Shyamala Gopalan Harris
Indian-born American biomedical scientist and researcher (1938–2009)
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Key Takeaways
- She was the mother of Kamala Harris, the former vice president of the United States who also served as attorney general of California and senator, and Maya Harris, a lawyer and political commentator.
- Gopalan, a civil servant, and Gopala Rajammal, her mother.
- Gopalan had begun his professional life as a stenographer, and, as he rose through the ranks of the Imperial Secretariat Service and later Central Secretariat Service, he moved the family every few years between Madras (now Chennai), New Delhi, Bombay (now Mumbai), and Calcutta (now Kolkata).
- A gifted singer of Carnatic music, Shyamala won a national competition in it as a teenager.
Shyamala Gopalan Harris (born Gopalan Shyamala; December 7, 1938 – February 11, 2009) was an Indian-born American biomedical scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, whose work in isolating and characterizing the progesterone receptor gene has stimulated advances in breast biology and oncology. She was the mother of Kamala Harris, the former vice president of the United States who also served as attorney general of California and senator, and Maya Harris, a lawyer and political commentator.
Early life and education
Shyamala was born at the late British Raj on December 7, 1938, in Madras to Iyengar parents, P. V. Gopalan, a civil servant, and Gopala Rajammal, her mother. Her parents were from two villages near the town of Mannargudi in Madras Province. Gopalan had begun his professional life as a stenographer, and, as he rose through the ranks of the Imperial Secretariat Service and later Central Secretariat Service, he moved the family every few years between Madras (now Chennai), New Delhi, Bombay (now Mumbai), and Calcutta (now Kolkata). He and Rajam had an arranged marriage, but according to Shyamala's brother, Balachandran, their parents were broad-minded in raising the children, all of whom led somewhat unconventional lives. A gifted singer of Carnatic music, Shyamala won a national competition in it as a teenager.
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