Arunachalam Muruganantham

Indian inventor who revolutionized menstrual hygiene by creating low-cost sanitary pad machines despite social stigma.

Arunachalam Muruganantham (b. 1962) challenged India’s menstrual taboos through his low-cost sanitary pad revolution. After discovering his wife used rags during menstruation, he spent years developing an affordable pad-making machine using cellulose from pinewood pulp.

Mocked as a "lunatic," he tested prototypes with a fake uterus made from football bladders. His breakthrough came in 2006: machines producing pads at 1/3 market price, operated by rural women collectives. Today, 23,000+ machines across 147 countries empower communities, reducing school dropout rates by 60% in parts of India.

Featured in the Oscar-winning documentary 《Period. End of Sentence》, Muruganantham refuses to patent his design, stating: "This technology belongs to women everywhere." His Jayaashree Industries trains women entrepreneurs, proving social change can be engineered from humble workshops.