Akira Kurosawa Aristotle

Transcription

295
WORLD'S GREAT PERSONALITIES
Akira Kurosawa
1910-1998
Japanese director and screenwriter Akira
Kurosawa's 50-year career began when he
became
an
assistant
director and
scriptwriter in
1936. His first
feature film
was Sanshiro
Sugata (1943),
and Rashomon
won him the Best Foreign Film Oscar in 1951
and international fame. His movies, with
grand battle scenes and noble heroes, have
inspired many Hollywood films. John Sturges'
(1910-1992) 'The Magnificent Seven' (1960)
was a . remake of Akira's masterpiece "The
Seven Samurai". Akira's career dipped in the
late 1960s, but he went on to make more
epic films, receiving an Oscar for Dersu
Uzala in 1976.
Notable films: Rashomon 1951; The Seven
Samurai 1954; Dersu Uzala 1976; Ran 1985;
Dreams 1990
Aristotle
(334-322 BC)
A
ristotle’s father was a doctor at the court
of Philip II of Macedonia. When Aristotle
was about 17, he left home and set off for
Athens, where he wanted to study
philosophy under the great Plato. He stayed
in Athens for twenty years, studied all kind
of subjects including biology, philosophy,
mathematics and astronomy, and he also
taught pupils.
Then, in 342 he was invited back to
Macedonia to become tutor to young
Alexander, Philip’s son. Aristotle taught
Alexander for about five years, and he
inspired the young prince with his enthusiasm
for wisdom and for the free expression of
ideas.
In 336 Alexander became king and his tutor
went back to Athens. There he opened his
own school of philosophy. The students used
to walk about under trees, discussing one
kind or other philosophical argument, and this
led them to become known as the Peripatetics, for Greek peripateting means walking
around, in Greek.
Aristotle’s basic thinking was about how to
solve the problems that men actually came
across in their lives. Plato, on the other hand,
had
been
much more
concerned
with what
man’s life
ought to be
like. Thus,
Aristotle was
like a modern
scientist; he
looked at facts
and tried to
work out new
ideas from those facts. This gave rise to the
science of logic or rules of reasoning.
Aristotle had a profound influence upon
medieval writers and scholars, and he is still
an important influence today.
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WORLD HISTORY
Attlee Clement
(1883-1967)
British Labour statesman
‘Clem’ Attlee was a remarkable man. Born
of a noble family and well educated, he
nonetheless acquired early in life a devotion
to the interests
of the lower
c l a s s e s .
Before the
First World
War, in which,
incidentally, he
was to serve
with
great
distinction, he
spent a long
period
of
service in
the betterment of the poor in Stepney. In
1922, he became a member of Parliament
and was parliamentary secretary to Ramsay
MacDonald, Labour’s first prime minister.
accident when
trying to make
apparatus with
which to help
deaf people hear,
for both he and
his
father
Alexander
Melville Bell,
who
had
emigrated to
America in the 1870s, had spent many years
in research into ways of helping the deaf.
Both men were naturalized and remained in
the United States to pursue their work.
Brezhnev, Leonid
(1906-1982)
Russian leader
T
Graham Bell invented the telephone. It was
his very forbidding-looking man, outwardly
stern and unbending but said by his
colleagues to have been inwardly warmhearted, was the dominating personality in
the Soviet Union for the best part of the years
1966 to his death in 1982. Born in the
Ukraine, Leonid Ilyich Brezhrtev was an
engineer by training. He began to be active
in communist party matters in the early 1930s,
and during the Second World War held
political positions, though he was given army
rank. He ended up in 1945 as a majorgeneral. In 1952, he was elected to the
Central Committee of the Communist Party
of the Soviet Union (CPSU), a mark of
honour for his sound work for several years,
in the administration of his native Ukraine.
He had attracted the notice of Khrushchev
meanwhile who did much to help his career.
an instrument he produced more or less by
When Khrushchev became First Secretary
Before the outbreak of the Second World
War, Attlee had worked his way to become
Leader of the Opposition in the Commons,
and so was given high office in Churchill’s
wartime national government. In 1942
Churchill made Attlee as deputy prime
minister. When the European war was over,
the country elected a Labour government.
Attlee became prime minister and held
power for six momentous years in British
social history.
Bell Alexander Graham
(1847-1922)
Scottish inventor
WORLD 'S GREAT PERSONALITIES
of the CPSU, and virtual ruler of Russia, in
1954 he found a high post for Brezhnev and
in 1956 advanced him to be a Secretary of
the CPSU. Eight years later, Brezhnev was
among the top Soviet leaders who engineered
the downfall of Khrushchev, and this resulted
in his own promotion - to Khrushchev’s post.
This may seem like treachery, but the history
of Soviet politics since the time of Lenin is
filled with this kind of ‘turning on the chief
and getting his job’, and perhaps it happens
in other countries, though less obviously.
Similar efforts may well have been made to
unseat Brezhnev, but if they were, he
certainly succeeded in thwarting them. He
remained in firm control to his death.
Cecil B. De Mille
1881-1959
Cecil B. De Mille made his acting debut on
Broadway in 1900. With Samuel Goldwyn,
he founded Paramount Studios in Hollywood
in 1913. De
Mille directed
the
first
successful
silent feature
film
The
Squaw Man in
1914.
He
launched the careers of many stars, and
directed epic, spectacular pictures with lavish
sets and costumes, often with Biblical themes.
Notable films: The Ten Commandments 1923
and 1956; The Volga Boatman 1926
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Charlie Chaplin
(1889-1977)
British comedy actor and
film maker
Charlie Chaplin had a very hard time in his
childhood. He was born in South London,
for parents who was connecte with the
theatre. His father was a drunk and his
mother, a singer and dancer, often out of
w o r k .
Mother and
children
u n d er wen t
u n t o l d
sufferings in
the
work
house. This
dreadful
background is
mirrored in
t h e wistful
comedy in many of Chaplin films. Audiences
could weep, as well as laugh, over the tiny,
down-trodden figure with the bowler hat,
cane, moustache and turned-out feet which
was the early, and most brilliant, Charlie
Chaplin.
The child Charlie made his debut in musichall when he was five and was quite a
seasoned performer by the time he was eight!
Then in 1914 he went to Hollywood, where
the film industry was just beginning. He made
35 films in one year! The sad, bowler-hatted
tramp appeared in such silent-screen classics
as The Kid, The Gold Rush, The Champion
and Shoulder Arms. Then, at the end of the
1920s, sound came in. Chaplin’s style of
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WORLD HISTORY
acting was based on marvelous movement,
gesture and facial expression. He didn’t need
words. But in his next films, he experimented
with sound. City Lights (1931) about Charlie,
a millionaire and a blind girl, was given a
brilliant musical score. Modem Times (1936)
which shows Charlie working on a conveyor
belt, slave to his machine, combines speech
and mime. The Great Dictator (1940), a satire
on Hitler, had its own music and dialogue,
all, of course, written by Chaplin. Limelight
(1952) about a run-down music-hall
entertainer, was written, acted, directed, set
to music and choreographed by Chaplin. In
the same year, 1952, Chaplin left America
for a short trip to Europe with his fourth and
last wife, Oona, the daughter of the Irish
playwright Eugene O’Neill, and found his
return was barred. The United States was
going through a ‘Reds-under-the-bed’ scare
(fear of secret communists) and Chaplin,
though not a political person, had left wing
views. He and Oona made their home in
Switzerland, and Chaplin retaliated towards
the United States with "A King in New York
(1957)", a film which mocked the American
way of life. Though pressed over many years
to take American citizenship, Chaplin had
never done so and in 1975, when he was 86,
he was knighted.
Chou En-lai
(1898-1976)
Chinese statesman
For more than 25 years, Chou En-lai was
Mao Tse-tung’s colleague and second-incommand in the leadership of the People’s
Republic of China. It was one of the most
trouble-free and fruitful relationships in
power in history.
In the later years of their cooperation, Mao
Tse-tung provided the inspiration, Chou was
the man of action who put the ideas into
practice.
Chou was born in south China as a grandson
of an official of the Manchu Imperial family.
He was educated at an American mission
school, spent some years in Europe where
he was influenced by new communist ideas.
He may also have spent a few months
training as a revolutionary, in Moscow.
In the late 1920s when the communists fell
out with the Kuomintang government in
China, Chou helped to organize district
communist parties in Chinese towns, while
Mao Tse-tung was attempting to win over
the peasant population, and he joined Mao in
the short-lived Soviet Republic of Kiangsi.
Chou proved to be an astute negotiator and
carried out several diplomatic missions, and
when Mao set out on the famous ‘Long
March’, Chou went with him. In 1949, Mao
appointed Chou Prime Minister of the new
People’s Republic of China.
Churchill,
Sir Winston
British war leader, statesman,
painter and writer
Churchill was one of Britain’s greatest
statesmen, But for him, Britain, Europe, and
possibly the rest of the world, might have
given way to the domination of Hitler and
his allies, who had invaded and destroyed a
large part of Europe during the Second World
War.Churchill was the son of Lord Randolph
Churchill and his wife, the American Jennie
Jerome. He was also a descendant of the
great Duke of Marlborough. Like many men
destined for greatness, Winston hated school,
did badly at it, and only just managed to scrape
into a career, in his
case the army. He
fought in Cuba, in
India and with
Kitchener in Egypt.
Then he went to
South Africa in the
Boer War as a war
correspondent. He
had, while in India
taught himself to
write good prose, and he had developed a
grand, mastery style which, captured the
greatness of the times in which he was living
or about which he was writing. In South
Africa he was captured, escaped on a train
with a price on his head and returned to
England as a hero.
Then he went into Parliament, and by 1906
he became a junior minister. In 1911 he
became first lord of the admiralty and it was
largely due to his energy, foresight and
persistence that the British fleet was ready,
in 1914, to face any comers in the First World
War. During the war, Churchill put up several
ideas for shortening it.
In 1939, Britain declared war over Hitler’s
invasion of Poland. Churchill was brought
back as first lord of the admiralty and again
he organized the fleet so that it would play
its role.
Then in May 1940, when France was about
299
to collapse before the Germans,
Chamberlain, the prime minister, was
compelled to resign for his lack of leadership,
and Churchill was sent for by the king,
George VI, to form a government. His hour
had come.
By his stirring inspiration and his magnificent
speeches invoking all the best qualities of the
British people, and his more practical direction
of the nation’s war effort, he took the country
through five years of hardship and loss to
ultimate victory.
After the war, Churchill was in opposition
for six years. Then the Conservatives were
returned to power and he was Prime Minister
again, until 1955. By this time he was 80 and
he knew it was time to retire. ‘His authorship
developed enormously. His memoirs of the
Second World War', in six volumes, earned
him the Nobel prize for literature. He had
also been painting for many years, with
vigour and a strong sense of colour, and he
had been elected an honorary academician
extraordinary by the Royal Academy.
Loaded with honours and revered throughout
the world, Winston Churchill died at the grand
age of 90, and was given a solemn state
funeral.
Confucius
(C.551-C.480BC)
Chinese Philosopher
Confucius is the Latin rendering of the
Chinese name of the great philosopher, Kung
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WORLD HISTORY
Fu Tzu, which means Philosopher King.
Confucius’ early years, like those of many
founders of religions or beliefs, are obscured
by myth. He was said to have been the ugliest
boy in all China,
with
huge,
flapping ears, a
b o x e r ’ s
squashed nose,
and
sharp,
protruding teeth.
He was also said
to have been
astonishingly
clever at a very young age. In manhood, he
entered the Chinese civil service and for
many years followed a worthwhile career.
But as he grew older he began to want to
improve the quality of life among his fellow
men. He did not think this should necessarily
be done by a benevolent government handing
out favours and gifts, but rather by men
improving their way of life and their attitudes
to their neighbours; in short, developing a
better sense of social responsibility. At the
age of about 60 he retired from government
service and set up a school of pupils whom
he sought to instruct in his ideas in order to
send them out into the Chinese countryside
to pass on his teaching. The syllabus was a
wide one: morals, family duties, social
reform, and individual personal relationships.
He is said not to have put many of his ideas
in writing, but of course his followers did,
and among the works attributed to his
teaching are the Analects (or Conversations),
which are a record of his lectures. Confucius
was greatly respected in his life-time and is
the best known of the Chinese philosophers.
Dayan, General Moshe
(1915-1981)
Israeli soldier-statesman
Instantly recognizable from the black patch
over his left eye (he lost the eye in a military
action), Moshe Dayan was for a generation
the most famous general in the Middle East.
Israeli armies under his command were
famed, and feared, for their high organization
and discipline and for the speed with which
they advanced and won ground. Nowhere
was this reputation more justified than in the
Six Day War between Israel and neighbouring
Arab countries in June 1967. Between 6th
and 10th of that hot month, Israeli forces
under Dayan’s personal leadership invaded
and conquered the Sinai peninsula between
Israel and the Suez Canal, occupied
Jerusalem and overran the whole of the
Jordanian kingdom west of the river Jordan.
They also took huge areas of Syria and almost
reached Damascus.
Moshe Dayan was born in 1915. In the 1930s
he served in the commando force led by
Major Orde Wingate to keep the Arabs out
of Pales- tine, then a British mandated
territory. After the Second World War, Jewish
nationals campaigned for an independent
Israeli state in Palestine, and Dayan
commanded the guerrilla forces that operated
in the Jerusalem area. In the fighting between
the new state of Israel (created in 1949 ) and
its neighbours in the early 1950s, he
established a reputation as a tough and
popular commander ready to take risks
against larger forces than those he led.
Dayan was also a politician. He served in
the Israeli cabinet as minister of defence and
also as foreign minister.
De Gaulle
(1890-1970)
French Leader and President of
France (1958-1969)
De Gaulle means ‘of France’, and no more
appropriate surname could fit the
achievements of General de Gaulle, even if
it had been invented for him. This patriotic
and very gallant French soldier was a general
early in the Second World War. When France
was overrun by Nazi Germans in 1940, de
Gaulle left for England on a mission to get
help. In his absence, the French surrendered
to Hitler, but he refused to accept this. He
made himself head of a Free French
National Committee in London, with one aim
— to get back to France and drive the
Germans out.
In 1944 the Allies expelled the Germans from
France and he entered Paris in triumph, but
walking on foot. After the war, the French
people elected him Prime Minister, but in 1946
he was ousted. He remained in political exile
for 13 years, watching one government after
another come to office and fall, as each one
failed to tackle the nation’s problems. In 1958
he was returned to power this time as
president, and headed the government and
the country, almost as a dictator, for ten
years. In that time he lifted French prestige
to great heights, and made his own reputation
as a world statesman.
301
Dumas, Alexandre
(1802-1870)
French Novelist
Few could not have heard of the novel, 'The
Three Musketeers'. This tremendous
historical tale was
the work of this
French novelist,
and
it
demonstrated his
great ability as a
s t o r y - t e l l e r.
Although
the
stories of this onetime clerical worker were all his own work,
many of his historical novels had the
background researched for him. His other
novels include "The Count of Monte Cristo"
and "The Man in the Iron Mask".
Edison, Thomas
Alva (1347-1931)
American Inventor
A
s a reward for
saving the life of
a station master’s
son the 12-yearold Edison was
given lessons in
telegraph
operation. For
several years he
worked as a
telegraph
operator traveling all over the United States
of America. But he saved enough from his
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WORLD HISTORY
earnings to leave the company and start his
own workshop.
There he began his amazing career as an
inventor. Among his patents were vote
recorders, the printing telegraph, the carbon
telephone transmitter, the microphone and
the phonograph (or gramophone). In the later
years of his life he produced his own talking
motion pictures.
Elizabeth Taylor
b.1932
The Actress
of Calibre
Elizabeth Taylor
became a child star
in the 1940s,
appearing
in
'Lassie' films and
the smash hit
"National Velvet" (1944). She successfully
made the transition into a serious adult actress
with Giant in 1956, and by gaining Oscar
nominations for "Raintree County", "Cat on
a Hot Tin Roof" and "Suddenly, Last
Summer". She finally won an Oscar for
"Butterfield" 8. Taylor met her most famous
husband of her seven husbands, actor
Richard Burton (p.142), while making the film
Cleopatra, and they made appearances in
many movies together. Vilho's "Afraid of
Virginia Woolf" gave her a second Oscar.
Notable films: "Raintree County" 1957; "Cat
on a Hot Tin Roof" 1958; "Suddenly, Last
Summer" 1959; "Butterfield" 8 1960;
"CleopatraP 1963; Vilho's "Who is Afraid of
Virginia Woolf" 1966.
Einstein (1879-1955)
Swiss physicist
Einstein was born as German a but became
a naturalized Swiss in 1894. He was a brilliant
mathematician and physicist and in 1914 he
was invited to become professor at Berlin.
This meant taking on German nationality
again, which he did. But Einstein also had
Jewish blood, and when Hitler came to
power in 1933 he was expelled, losing his
German citizenship again.
He fled to America and stayed there,
becoming a naturalized American. Einstein
is of course extremely famous for his theory
of relativity. Published in 1905, it says that
the speed of light appears to be the same
whether an observer is moving rapidly to
meet it or to go away from it.
He also said that light rays from stars bend
as they pass close to the sun, and this was
later proved.
Eisenhower
(1890-1969)
American president
(1953-1961)
‘I Like Ike’ was a catchphrase in the United
States in the last generation. It referred to
Eisenhower, whose nickname was ‘Ike’ and
who was one of the most popular men in the
land. With his beaming smile, his kind, quiet,
reassuring voice, he embodied the solid,
reliable father-figure that so many
Americans longed for.
Eisenhower was a professional soldier. By
1942 he was a general, but he had no major
battle experience. All the same, Roosevelt
picked him as commander of the American
forces in Europe in the Second World War.
Eisenhower was an able leader of men, and
seemed to be just the person to take over
supreme command of all the Allied forces in
Europe at the time of the invasion of France
in 1944. It proved true, for he led them to
victory in 1945. In 1952 his popularity was
still high and he won the presidential elections
as a Republican candidate. He repeated this
success in 1956.
George VI (1995-1952)
King of the United Kingdom
Albert Frederick Arthur George Windsor
was Duke of York, the second son of George
V and Queen Mary.
He succeeded to the
throne in 1936 quite
unexpectedly when
his brother, Edward
VIII, abdicated
throne because of
his wish to marry a
divorced woman. So
George took on the
throne, and one must say he handled it with
the greatest skill. Encumbered with an
appalling stutter, a desperate shyness, a habit
of smoking about 60 or so cigarettes a day,
303
he nonetheless endeared himself to his people
in a manner seldom equalled in the history of
monarchy anywhere. During the Second
World War he braved the air raids by staying
in London and visiting his bombed-out
subjects in the burning city. His own home,
Buckingham Palace, was damaged by bombs
in broad daylight when he was there. He
visited all theatres of war and delivered many
broadcasts. In 1947 he substituted the title
of Head of the Commonwealth for that of
Emperor of India. He died of cancer of the
lung in 1952.
Goebbels (1897-1945)
German Nazi Political Leader
Goebbels became minister of propaganda
in Hitler’s government in 1933, and remained
in charge of the Nazis’
machinery for indoctrinating the German
people with Nazi
philosophy right to the
end of the regime,
which collapsed in May
1945. He was a brilliant
journalist and broadcaster who had an
uncanny eye for the right moment to say the
right thing or the things people wanted to
hear. Goebbels was also intensely loyal to
his leader. When Hitler decided to commit
suicide in Berlin at the end of April 1945,
Goebbels decided to poison all his children
first, give poison to his wife and then take
some himself. So it happened: he had no wish
to survive without his beloved leader.
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WORLD HISTORY
Hemingway, Ernest
(1899-1961)
American Novelist
H
emingway was a newspaper journalist
who had served in the First World War. This
experience had greatly disillusioned him
about his fellow men and about mankind, and
in three brilliant novels, The Sun Also Rises,
Men Without Women and A Farewell to
Arms, all about the war, he became a leading
American novelist, a position he held up to
his death.
Hemingway used his skill as a journalist to
tell a fine story dramatically and well, and
among his novels that were to stand with the
greatest of this century were "For Whom the
Bell Tolls" (about the Spanish Civil War), "To
Have and Have Not" and "The Old Man and
The Sea". He was awarded the Nobel Prize
for literature in 1954.
Tragically, in 1961, dreading the thought of
old age, he shot himself.
Jackie Chan
b.1954
The Actor of Adventure
Born in Hong Kong, Jackie Chan was only
seven when he started to learn the art of
Kung-fu. Mter performing with a traditional
Chinese opera company, he went on to
appear as a stunt double in the Bruce Lee
(1940-1973) films, 'Fist of Fury' and "Enter
the Dragon". His first big film as an actor,
"Drunken Master" (1978) was a box-office
hit in Hong Kong. Mter two brief periods in
Hollywood, Jackie Chan returned to Hong
Kong where he directed and starred in many
hit films, all featuring him in fight scenes and
dangerous stunts. In 1996, he finally broke
into the US market with the film "Rumble in
the Bronx".
Notable films: "Drunken Master II" 1994;
"Rumble in the Bronx" 1996
Jinnah, Mohammed Ali
The founder of Paksitan
Mohamed Ali Jinnah, who was responsible
for the formation of Pakistan, was born on
th
25 December, 1876 in Karachi. His father’s
name was Boodhanja. His mother was
Midhibai. His
father was a
great millionaire
in the export and
import business.
Jinnah had his
schooling and
collegiate
education
in
Bombay and Karachi. He wanted to proceed
to London for studying Law. His mother
feared to send him to London. In those days,
the people who went to London used to get
married to English ladies and returned to their
mother land with their foriegn wife. So, his
mother wanted to arrange his marriage
before he proceeded to London. At the first
instance, Jinnah did not give his consent but
later he offered his willingness to get married.
Before he proceeded to London, his marriage
took place. He did not even look at his wife’s
face. According to the custom of those days,
a relative of his wife participated in the
marriage ceremonies. Jinnah who went to
London, studied law and acquired the
degree,’ Bar-at-law.’ When he was in
London, his mother and his wife fell ill and
passed away.
Jinnah returned to India in 1896 and began
practicing law in Bombay. He became
popular as a great lawyer. He was able to
reap excellent benefits out of his practice.
In 1906, Jinnah joined the Congress.
Gopalakrishna Gokhale, the political guru of
Gandhi was also the guru of Jinnah.
Jinnah toiled hard for attaining independence
to India and also for the Hindu-Muslim unity.
In 1915, after returning from South Africa,
Gandhi became the undisputed leader of the
Congress movement. In the beginning, both
Jinnah and Gandhi moved with each other in
a friendly manner but gradually Gandhi’s
ideologies were not liked by Jinnah. So, he
left the Congress in 1920.
From 1921 to 1935, there was some sort of
stagnation in the political life of Jinnah. He
stayed in London from 1930 to 1935 and
returned to India. The post of the leader of
the Muslim League party was conferred on
him automatically. Within a short period, he
was endorsed as the unquestioned leader of
the Muslim League.
In 1940, the Conference of the Muslim
League took place in Lahore. It was only in
that conference, they passed a resolution
305
stating that they should obtain a separate
independent country for the Muslims.
Gandhi attempted to thwart the idea of
partition to a great extent but due to the
stubbornness of Jinnah, he could not avoid it.
RE-MARRIAGE
In the meanwhile, when Jinnah was 41 years
old, he met a young 16 year girl Ratti in a
hotel at the city of Darjeeling. Ratti was the
daughter of Jinnah’s friend, Deensha who was
also a multi-millionaire. He belonged to the
Parsi religion.
Though the age difference between the two
was too high, both of them loved each other.
Deensha came to know about this and
became furious. He obtained a stay order in
the court demanding that Jinnah and Ratti
should not meet each other.
Ratti waited patiently for 2 years. After she
attained the age of 18, she bid a farewell to
her father and left her house. Then she got
married to Jinnah.
Both Jinnah and Ratti lived together happily.
th
A female child was born to them on 14
August, 1919. (After 28 years, the country
of Pakistan was born – This should be made
note of)
They named the child as,’Dina.’ After 10
years, there arose differences of opinion
between Jinnah and his wife Ratti. Ratti
separated herself from Jinnah and lived
separately.
After 1 year, (29th February, 1929) when Ratti
was staying in a hotel in Bombay, she suddenly
th
expired. It was her 29 birth day. At the
time of Ratti’s death, Jinnah was in Delhi.
He immediately rushed to Bombay.
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WORLD HISTORY
When Ratti’s body was kept in the corpse
and buried, Jinnah burst out in tears like a
small child. Till that time, Jinnah did not
express his feelings outwardly at all. He wept
for the first and last time on that day in his
life.
Jinnah has been praised as the Father of
th
Pakistan. He left for heavenly abode on 11
September, 1948.
Karl Marx
as a natural development from Feudalism and
Capitalism. Marx thought therefore that his
version of socialism would come first to
industrialized countries like Britain and
Germany. As it turned out he was mistaken.
Communism has been looked upon as a
solution to poverty rather than as an extension
of industrialization. And the first communist
state was set up in Russia, in 1918, then
nearly a century behind Western Europe in
development. Marx’s theories are believed
in by millions of people all over the world.
(1818 – 1883)
Helen Keller
German political philosopher
(1880 – 1968)
The political works of Marx have had a
more profound effect on the governments
th
of the 20 century than perhaps any other
single factor. Marx, a Jew born in Trier,
which was then in Rhenish Prussia, also lived
in Paris and London.
In London he dedicated himself to his work,
developing his theory of socialism and the
need for radical
reform. In his
works
Das
Kapital and The
Communist Mani
festo (which he
worked on with
Engels), he gave
an impetus to
much of the
radical thinking of
the time.
Marx was among the first to see history as
being a process determined by economic and
materialistic factors. He saw Communism
Americanblind,deaf-muteauthor
Imagine being struck down in childhood with
an illness that leaves you blind, deaf and
dumb. This happened to Helen Keller when
she was six. So her parents took her to
Alexander Graham Bell the inventor of the
telephone, and asked his help. He
recommended a part-blind teacher from the
Perkins Institute in Boston. This was Ann
Sullivan, and she taught Helen all kinds of
things. Helen had a
quick brain, and this
enabled her to some
extent to get over her
appalling disability.
Her progress was
amazing. By the time
she was 20 she was
writing fluently on
many subjects. And in 1904 she won an
honours degree.
Helen Keller discovered that there were
many people like her and she decided to
devote her life to their welfare. She wrote
books, articles and papers on her own story
and her thoughts about it, and she also
lectured. This brought comfort and
encouragement to many who might otherwise
have led a silent, empty existence.
Kennedy, John
Fitzgerald (1917-1963)
President of the United States
(1961-1963)
Jack Kennedy was the youngest American
ever to be elected
president of the
U.S.A. He was also
the first Roman
Catholic to hold the
office. When he was
assassinated at Dallas,
in Texas, on 22
November 1963, half way through his first
term of office, the whole nation mourned.
Kennedy was the second son of Joseph
Kennedy, a multi-millionai--re of Irish
descent. As a boy he had all that rich boys
could have. After an academic training he
served in the Second World War, and as a
torpedo boat commander he was decorated
for bravery. When the war ended, Kennedy
went into politics as a Democrat, and by 1960
had built up enough support to stand for the
presidency. He won with a small majority,
but what is interesting is that the largest share
of his vote came from the younger people.
He was seen to represent the hopes and
dreams of young men and women, especially
coloured people, and they looked to him to
307
build a new world.
During his term he introduced some civil
rights laws and he planned others. He
handled United States foreign policy with skill
and courage, particularly in 1962 when he
prevailed upon the Russians to withdraw
missiles from Cuba by making it clear that
he would not hesitate to use nuclear weapons
if a war followed. Kennedy was murdered
in 1963 by a single rifle bullet, but the identity
of the assassin has never been absolutely
established.
Khrushchev
(1894 – 1971)
Russian leader (1953-1964)
Nikita Khrushchev was premier of the
Soviet Union from 1958 to 1964. Genial,
extrovert quick-tempered and shrewd,
Khrushchev shocked the world when he took
off his shoe and
thumped his desk
with it to make a
point at a United
Nations meeting.
The world missed
the point of the
gesture: it was the
first visit by a Soviet
leader to the UN,
and he was a man with human frailties, like
anyone else.
Khrushchev was born in 1894, received little
formal education and became a shepherd
boy. As a young man he was a locksmith.
308
WORLD HISTORY
When the Russian Revolution broke out in
1917 he became a member of the Red Guard
and later of the Communist Party. By 1938he was secretary of the Ukrainian
Communist Party. In the Second World War
he mobilized the resources of the Ukraine to
resist the Nazi German army, helped to
organize the defense of Stalingrad city in
1942 and super- intended the rebuilding of
Ukrainian industry after the Germans had
been driven out.
When Stalin died Khrushchev was chosen
as first secretary of the party. For a time he
shared power with Marshal Bulganin, but
gradually he edged the latter into retirement
and became sole premier, virtually governing
the USSR for several years.
Khrushchev’s rule was marked by some
important reforms and, on the whole, good
changes at home, such as reducing the
overall grip of the secret police on the state
etc. In foreign policy he maintained a tough
stand on Russia’s behalf, improving the
country’s world-wide image, and promoted
what came to be called ‘peaceful coexistence’ between the communist system
and the capitalist systems of the Western
powers. But he went too far in a
confrontation with the U.S.A. over Russian
stationing of nuclear missiles in Cuba, in 1962.
He had to back down and promise to
withdraw the weapons which posed a most
serious threat to America. This alienated him
from many colleagues in high places in Russia
and in 1964 they conspired to force him to
resign.
King, Martin Luther
(1929-1968)
American Black leader
This minister of the church founded the
Southern Christian Leadership Conference,
a movement which aimed to achieve civil
rights for black Americans. He advocated
no violence whatever, and set a splendid
example to his colleagues—and to many
others involved in the black struggle in the
United States, by his patience, kindness,
wisdom and restraint. Americans of all
colours came to respect Martin Luther King,
who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in
1964, and the world was appalled to hear on
4 April 1968 that at Memphis a white fanatic
had shot him and wounded him so badly that
he died shortly afterwards.
Kosygin (1904-1980)
Russian statesman
All governments have some members who
are more extreme and occasionally more hot
headed than others. The Soviet Russian
governments, since 1953, have had their
share of impetuous men. Kosygin was for a
long time Chairman of the Council of
Ministers of the Soviet Union, a post of great
importance, and he often exerted a
moderating influence upon some of his
colleagues, in both at home and its foreign
affairs. His influence probably lessened in
309
the last years of his life, but he died in 1980
still firmly in office, and he was accorded an
impressive funeral. For several years he and
his colleague Leonid Brezhnev virtually ruled
Russia, and from the Russian point of view
it was a beneficial partnership.
Alexei Kosygin was born and educated in
Leningrad, and just managed to take part in
the original Revolution of 1918. He became
an active politician in the 1920s and was
Chairman of the City Soviet of Leningrad,
that is, mayor, in 1938. He entered the national
government in 1939 and was advanced to
the ruling Politburo in 1948.
When Khrushchev was displaced in 1964,
Kosygin was appointed chairman of the
Council of Ministers, the same thing as prime
minister, and two years later he introduced a
five-year plan which aimed to balance the
needs of the nation for heavy industrial
products with the rising demands of the
people for more and better consumer goods.
Laurel and Hardy
Stan Laurel 1890-1965
musical comedy troupe, and by 1917, was
acting in movies. Hardy had been working
in silent film comedies since 1913, but prior
to that had performed in vaudeville acts too.
Both became members of Hal Roach's
Hollywood studio in 1926. "Putting Pants on
Philip" (1927) was their first comedy hit and
they became a famous duo, regularly getting
into 'another fine mess'. Together they made
over 100 films and earned the nickname 'The
Boys'.
Notable films: "Putting Pants on Philip" 1927;
"Sons of the Desert" 1934; "Way Out West"
1937; "The Music Box" 1932; "Blockheads"
1938.
Oliver Hardy 1892-1957
The ace comedian duo.
Lenin,
Skinny guy Stan Laurel and tubby partner
Vladimir Illich Ulyanov
Oliver Hardy were cinema's first great
comedy team. Laurel was born in Ulverston,
England, and Hardy hailed from, Georgia,
USA.
(1370-1924)
Laurel grew up around music-halls and
performed in vaudeville. He arrived in
America at the age of 20 as a member of a
ladimir Ilyich Ulyanov was the son of a
civil servant. He spent almost his entire youth
Russian communist leader
V
310
WORLD HISTORY
revolutionary activities of one kind or
another. He grew up to be intolerant of other
people’s views, and with his dominating
personality, enhanced by fierce eyes, heavy
intellectual brow and dark beard, he would
trample on anyone who tried to argue with
him. But he had an uncanny ability to get
men to listen to him, spellbound, for hours
on end, and to get them to act.
He conceived the reconstruction of the
Russian state and in 1917, after an exciting
life including exile in Siberia and abroad,
working under ground, he returned to Russia
during the 1917
Revolution
which was
being carried
out under the
leadership of
Kerensky. He
managed to
get Kerensky’s more moderate government
turned out and thereafter he ruled Russia
with a strong but necessary discipline.
Serfdom is still existed. The country was
generations behind in development.
Communications were woefully inadequate.
And there was starvation, shortage, misery
and corruption everywhere.
Lenin built a worker’s republic. He had to
use harsh methods, for only force could bring
about social change of this magnitude.
Religion was crushed. Private property was
seized. Farms were taken over and run on a
collective basis. Secret police watched
everyone, kept the outside world from them
and them from the outside world. But to
many millions of Russians the hardship
proved to be worthwhile. Lenin died in 1924.
Leonardo da Vinci
1452-1510
The famous French Painter
L eonardo
da Vinci was the ultimate
Renaissance man. Both artist and scientist,
he studied many different subjects - painting,
aeronautics, geology and engineering. He
Monalisa
Leonardo da Vinchi
even dissected cadavers to study human
anatomy.
Born in Vinci, Italy, Leonardo showed much
talent as a boy and became an apprentice to
Andrea del Verrocchio (1435-1488) in
Florence. He proved his merit painting an
impressive angel in Verrocchio's The
Baptism of Christ (1472) and at the age of
20 he became a Master of the Guild of
Artists. In 1482, he asked the Duke of Milan,
Ludovico Sforza, if he could create a 'Great
Horse' statue for him. He was employed by
Sforza in Milan but only managed to produce
a clay model in 1493 - the statue itself was
never started. He did paint Sforza's mistress,
Lady in Ermine in 1485 and a major
commission, The Virgin of the Rocks (1508),
took a year to complete. His masterpiece,
The Last Supper, painted for a church in
Milan, had deteriorated because he
experimented with oil paint on plaster.
311
France invaded Milan and da Vinci left, finally
returning to Florence around 1503. He
painted the enigmatic Mona Lisa around this
time. Da Vinci ended his days in a manor
house at Cloux, near Amboise in France, an
honoured guest of Louis XII (1498-1515).
Notable paintings: "The Last Supper" 1497;
"Mona Lisa" c.l500-1504; "The Virgin and
Child with St Anne" c.1510.
Mao Tse-tung
(1893-1976)
The Leader of China
C
hairman Mao, as he was known
everywhere, was one of the greatest national
leaders of history. He rose from the humblest
beginnings to become the chosen head of the
largest nation on Earth, comprising at his
death nearly 1,000 million people, and he
remained there for nearly 30 years.
Mao Tse-tung was the son of a peasant
farmer in the southern Chinese province of
Hunan. He became deeply involved in
revolutionary activities in the years following
the great 1911. Revolution against the
government of the Manchu Imperial
family. After the setting up of the communist
regime in Russia under Lenin (page 276) in
1918, Mao Tse-tung, who was then working
as a library assistant at Peking University,
helped to found the Chinese Communist
Party. The communists at first cooperated
with the liberal government in China, the
Kuomintang, but the government gradually
moved away from them, and by the end of
the 1920s was actively trying to crush them
with military force. Mao left Peking to
organize resistance in the south and in 1930
he declared a Chinese Soviet Republic in
Kiangsi.
In 1934, government forces compelled Mao
to give up the republic, and he and his
followers set out on
what came to be the
famous
‘Long
March’ from Kiangsi
to Yenan in the north
of China. There,
Mao raised an army
of peasants, trained
and equipped it as a
guerrilla force, and
h a r a s s e d
government troops
and depots. When the Japanese invaded and
overran China, he harassed them, too.
The Japanese were driven out of China at
the end of the Second World War in 1945.
Mao seized the opportunity to march into
central China and fought and defeated the
forces of the old Kuomintang which was in
power again. By 1949, Mao was in firm
control of the Chinese mainland, and he
proclaimed the People’s Republic. He was
chosen as chairman of the Communist Party,
which in effect meant he was head of state,
and he remained so until his death in 1976.
Mao supplied the inspiration for the
reconstruction of China along communist
WORLD HISTORY
312
lines, more faithful to Lenin’s ideals than the
system that developed in the U.S.S.R. Ably
served by several top rate men, such as Chou
En-lai, Mao master-minded the
transformation of China from an imperial and
partly feudal into a modern and energetic
democratic republic.
Marconi (1874-1937)
Italian scientist
M
arconi was the first man successfully
to send and pick up radio signals over any
distance. He set up a transmitter in
Newfoundland, and another in Cornwall, and
in 1901 he sent signals across the Atlantic.
It was a great day in wireless generally to
try to make their lives a little better. He
extended his work along the Newfoundland
coast.
Brando's career
dipped during the
1960s,but he made
a spectacular return
to form as the
Mafia don, Vito
Corleone, in "The
Godfather", but
refused an Oscar
as a protest on behalf of Native Americans.
Notable films: 'The Wild One' 1953; 'On the
Waterfront' 1954; 'The Godfather' 1972;
'Last Tango in Paris' 1973; 'Apocalypse
Now' 1979.
Marilyn Monroe
1926-1962
The Blonde Actress of America
Legendary movie star Marilyn Monroe, the
Marlon Brando
b.1924
American Artist
B
orn in Nebraska, Marlon Brando learned
Stanislavsky's 'method' technique at Lee
Strasberg's . New York Actors' Studio.!
He first won critical acclaim for his
Broadway stage performance in "Desiree"
(1947). Moving to films, Brando was the
white t-shirt and leather-clad rebel in "The
Wild One" and won an Oscar for playing the
role of tough guy in "On the Waterfront".
most famous blonde of all time, shot to fame
in the 1950s. The young Norma Jean Baker
spent an unhappy childhood in Los Angeles'
foster homes because of her mother's mental
illness and hospitalization. Norma Jean was
spotted by film
studios
while
modelling, and
became a blonde
starlet, changing
her name to
Marilyn Monroe.
By the early
1950s, her roles in
popular films and
MEIR GOLDA
the publication of Photographs in Playboy
magazine made her a huge box-office
attraction. Three times married, her husbands
included baseball star Joe DiMaggio (p.204)
and playwright Arthur Miller (p.122). Monroe
often played dizzy blondes, but was maturing
into a more serious actress when she died
tragically of a sleeping-pill overdose when
aged only 36.
313
became the state of Israel in 1948, and
became minister for labour and social
insurance for seven years from 1949. She
was widowed in 1956, and was foreign
minister for the next nine years.
A plain, dumpy figure, with grey hair drawn
severely back, Golda Meir was one of the
first and greatest of the world’s women Prime
Ministers. She was warm-hearted, motherly
and very efficient.
Golda Meir
(1898 – 1979) Israeli Prime
Minister (1969 - 1974)
Mountbatten
Golda Meir was born in the Jewish ghetto
British statesman and naval
commander
in Kiev, Russia, but emigrated with her family
to America when she
was eight years old.
She got trained as a
teacher but soon
became an active
Zionist, married
another Russian
immigrant, Morris
Myerson,
and
emigrated again, to Palestine, in 1921. She
and her husband lived on a kibbutz for a
couple of years, until Morris’s health broke
down. During the next few years, they were
very poor — Golda had to take in washing
to make ends meet — but their two children
were born. Mrs Meir began playing an
increasingly active part in the Labour and
World Zionist movements. She was elected
to the Knesset (parliament) when Palestine
(1900-1979)
A
s a young man, Mountbatten had
everything - fine looks, royal birth and a title
(he was great grandson of Queen Victoria ),
bravery ( he served at sea in the First World
War with the Grand Fleet when he was only
16) and a great future if he wanted it. By the
start of the Second World War he was a
captain in the Royal Navy and in command,
in HMS Kelly, of a destroyer flotilla. Two
years later, he won fame and the DSO
(Distinguished Service Order ) when his ship
fought a heroic engagement with superior
German forces, though it was eventually sunk.
The next year, Churchill, Britain’s War Lord,
took the unusual step of lifting Mountbatten
over the heads of several more senior men
and put him in charge of Combined
Operations. He was given the rank of viceadmiral, to run the development of techniques
and equipment in amphibious warfare,
314
WORLD HISTORY
preparing to launch the forthcoming invasion
of Europe. In 1943 he was given overall
command of Allied forces in south-east Asia
in the drive to get the Japanese out of the
huge areas of conquest they had won in 1941
— 42.
After the war, when it was clear that India
must be given her independence from the
British Empire, Mountbatten was appointed
last viceroy with the express purpose of
seeing the transition through. He
recommended partitioning the sub-continent
into Hindu India and Moslem Pakistan, and
although at first the division was
accompanied by thousands of deaths in a
brief orgy of fighting between Hindus and
Moslems, it was largely due to Mountbatten
that the division was carried out without much
more violence and bloodshed.
In 1955, Mountbatten was appointed first sea
lord (a post his father Prince Henry of
Battenburg had held in 1914) and four years
later he became chief of the defence staff.
By the 1970s Mountbatten had become one
of the most revered men in Britain, was in a
sense ‘grandfather’ of the royal family
(Prince Philip was his nephew), and was
often called upon by all manner of people
for advice, in the same way as the great Duke
of Wellington had been in his last years.
This long life of devoted service to his country
was brought to a sudden and most tragic end
in August 1979 when he was murdered in
an IRA terrorist attack off the coast of
Northern Ireland.
Nasser, Gamal Abdel
(1918 - 1970)
Ruler of Egypt (1956 - 1970)
In 1953, Colonel Nasser seized power in
Egypt, soon after the revolt of 1952 which
had ended the
monarchy of King
Farouk. At first, few
people outside Egypt
realized
that
Nasser ’s
most
serious ambition was
to destroy the army
of the new state of
Israel and to drive the Israeli people out of
Palestine altogether. After a while, when it
seemed he had a firm grip on power in Egypt
and was actually doing something to
modernize the country, foreigners began to
take congnizance of his efforts. His regime
did not falter even though Nasser lost the
Six Day War of 1967 against Israel. When
he died in 1970, he was greatly mourned.
He had revolutionized his country and made
it a political power to be reckoned with.
Oscar Wilde
(1856-1900)
Irish playwright, poet and wit
One thing that made Oscar Wilde one of
the most famous names in literature was his
incomparable wit and humour. He had an
epigram, a funny reply or a wise observation
for anything you cared to say to him. Many
of these he remembered and used in his four
most
brilliant
comedy plays, "Lady
Windermere’s" Fan,
"A Woman of No
Importance", "An
Ideal Husband" and
"The Importance of
Being Earnest". This
last play has been
considered as one of the finest comedy in
the English language.
Wilde had a brilliant academic career,
winning a double first class honours degree
at Oxford and carrying off the Newdigate
Prize for Poetry. He spent some years in
journalism, literary criticism and lecturing.
Then he started on his famous plays which
earned him a lot of money.
Wilde was a homosexual in the later part of
his life. He dissipated nearly all his wealth
by becoming legally involved with the
Scottish family of Queensberry; he sued
Lord Queens- berry for calling him a
homosexual, and losing the case because
Queensberry proved it was true. His career
ended up in the criminal court where he
received a two-year sentence.
In Reading gaol he wrote a long narrative
poem, the Ballad of Reading Gaol, one of
the most beautiful in the language. When
he came out, he went to France and died
there in poverty and disgrace in 1900.
Pasteur, Louis
315
(1822-1895) French Chemist
Pasteur is France’s most famous scientist.
He discovered that germs existed, and caused
infection. He also showed that you could
destroy many of them by applying, heat, and
his technique of ‘pasteurizing’ fluids like milk
to free them from germs is still practised
everywhere. Pasteur discovered an
inoculation against the dread disease of
anthrax, and he found a cure for hydrophobia
or rabies, which you could catch if you were
bitten by a mad dog. Pasteur’s work on germs
encouraged Britain’s Lord Lister to introduce
his revolutionary antiseptic system.
Picasso (1881-1972)
Spanish Painter
Picasso was a Spanish artist who in his time
was regarded by many as the greatest living
painter. Throughout his life his work was full
of vigour, colour and technical brilliance.
His pictures still fetch enormous prices in
auction rooms. Picasso was a pioneer of
abstract art, who radically altered the
traditions of painting during the long period
he was working.
Early influences were gained in Paris, where
the Post-Impressionists were active; his work
was fairly representational, featuring actors
and harlequins. He then introduced Cubism,
a style of art which interpreted objects in three
dimensions, as planes of cubes and other
rectilinear shapes. A series of Spanish
316
WORLD HISTORY
subjects —pictures of bull-fighting —
culminated in the terrifying painting Guernica,
depicting the horrors of the Spanish Civil War
in 1936.
Analects of Confucius although it is very
unlikely that Plato would have been aware
of the existence of the Chinese thinker. Plato
died at the age of about 80.
Plato (C.427-C.347BC)
Rockefeller (1839-1937)
Athenian Philosopher
American oil tycoon
Plato was the celebrated pupil of Socrates.
He had been born into an aristocratic family
and had served in the army against the
Spartans. He studied under Socrates and
wrote down accounts of their discussions,
which was as well, for Socrates left no works
himself. When
the Master, whom
he loved so
greatly, was put to
death, Plato left
Athens in disgust
and travelled to
many parts of the
Near
East,
probably visiting
schools of philosophy. Then he came back
in 387 and founded his own school, known
as the Academy, which was to develop into
a university — possibly the first ever in world
history.
was the only American president to serve
four terms of office, although he died during
the last term. It was remarkable for anyone,
more so for him when it is remembered he
had to spend much of his life in a wheelchair after an attack of poliomyelitis.
During this time he produced a number of
learned books. Perhaps the best known was
“The Republic", a dialogue (or discussion) in
which his great master was represented as
the leader. This book was an attempt to
outline an ideal state, how best to run a
government, how individuals should behave
towards one another. It was not unlike the
Rooosevelt was a lawyer, like many
American presidents. He came to
prominence as a politician when in 1932 he
offered the American people a New Deal,
that is, sweeping reforms to make the country
rich and strong again after the calamitous
depression of the 1920s and the slump of
1929. The electorate believed him and put
With his brother William, Rockefeller founded
the Standard Oil Company which for some
time controlled the American oil business.
He gave some 500 million dollars to medical
research, the church, universities, and to
establishing the Rockefeller Foundation.
Roosevelt, Franklin
(1882-1945)
American president (1932 - 1945)
Roosevelt, a relative of Theodore Roosevelt,
him in office. They did so again in 1936 and
again in 1940.
When the Second
World War broke out
and Churchill became
British prime minister,
Roosevelt studiously
kept out of the
conflict, but equally
studiously offered all
sorts of help to Britain while in fall short of
war. Finally, he had to bring the Americans
in it when the Japanese bombed and smashed
the American naval base at Pearl Harbor in
Hawaii in December 1941. Until his death,
near the end of the war in Europe, Roosevelt
directed the entire American war effort.
317
theories he believed. He was opposed to
many of the moral and matrimonial
conventions of Western Europe, and he
earned a good deal of abuse for his attacks
on them.
Russell wrote many learned works, including
a History of Western Philosophy and
Principia Mathematica which used the rules
of formal logic to explain mathematics. He
was awarded and the Order of Merit in 1949,
the Nobel Prize in 1950. In his last years he
campaigned vigorously against nuclear
weapons and the war in Vietnam: He sat
outside No. 10 Downing Street, in protest,
and was arrested and imprisoned often.
Sadat, Anwar
Russell, Bertrand
(1918-1981)
(1872-1970)
PresidentofEgypt(1970-1981)
British Philosopher
Bertrand Russell was one of the most
original and brilliant thinkers of the last
century or so. His career spanned nearly 100
years and during it he expressed a wide
variety of beliefs, many of which landed him
in a lot of trouble. He was a mathematician
at Cambridge for many years, but when
during the First World War, he spoke out
against fighting, he was dismissed as fellow
of Trinity College. He also went to prison
for his views.
After the war he visited Russia and was not
impressed by the practical application there
of the teachings of Karl Marx in whose
On 6 October 1981, the world was stunned
to hear that President Sadat had been
assassinated. This brave visionary
successfully attacked Israel in 1973, and then
four years later, with tremendous daring,
turned his back on war and sought peace in
the Middle East, by signing a treaty with
Israel. By this policy, he earned the undying
hatred of many fellow Moslems. It was a
gang of Moslem fanatics who gunned him
down during a military parade in Cairo.
Muhammed Anwar al-Sadat, a peasant’s son,
was born in 1918 and served in the Egyptian
army for several years. In 1952 he was one
of the officers who drove King Farouk out
of Egypt and declared the country a republic,
318
WORLD HISTORY
to be ruled first by General Neguib and then
by Gamal Abdel Nasser. In 1961 Sadat was
appointed Secretary General of the National
Congress. At this time he became a close
friend of Nasser who made him VicePresident in 1964 and whom he succeeded
as President in 1970.
Sadat ruled Egypt well. Above all he worked
to resolve the difficulties between the Arab
states and Israel. He negotiated long and
patiently, with great statesmanship, which
won him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1978. He
raised Egypt’s prestige, and will be
remembered as one of the nation’s greatest
leaders.
Sean Connery
b.1930
British horn "Bond"
He was cast as James Bond in Dr No (1962)
and achieved international success, playing
Bond no fewer than seven times. Featuring
in over 60 films, Connery has also played
many other characters with great success.
He won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for
his portrayal as an Irish-American policeman
in The Untouchables (1987). He continues
to act and produce, and is proudly
nationalistic, supporting many Scottish
causes. His is also a highly competitive golfer.
Notable films: 'From Russia with Love' 1963;
'Goldfinger' 1964; 'Mamie' 1964;
'Thunderball'1965; 'The Hill' 1965; 'You Only
Live Twice' 1967; 'Diamonds Are Forever'
1971; 'Never Say Never Again' 1983;
'Highlander' 1986; 'The Name of the Rose'
1987; 'Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade'
1989; 'Hunt for Red October' 1990; 'The
Russia House' 1991.
Actor Sean Connery made his name playing
Stalin, Joseph
Ian Fleming's secret agent 007, the suave
Martini-sipping James Bond. The son of
working-class parents from Edinburgh,
Connery left school at the age of 13 and
joined the Royal Navy for a short time. He
had many jobs,
including labouring,
lifeguard and being a
model for art classes,
and came third in a
Mr Universe contest.
In 1953, his physique
landed him a chorus
part in the stage
musical
South
Pacific. Further stage
and television roles followed, including
Requiem for a Heavyweight (1956).
(1879-1953)
Russian leader
J oseph Stalin’s real name was Joseph
Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili, and he was a
Georgian. He got into all kinds of trouble as
a young man, and joined the local socialist
organization where he read all he could about
Marx. He received sentences in Siberia for
his activities.
When Lenin became the ruler of Russia in
1917, Stalin was given a high post in the
Government. And when the leader died in
1924, and most people thought Trotsky would
get the job as successor, Stalin put in his claim,
with the backing of powerful elements of the
319
communist party. He triumphed over Trotsky
who had to leave the country. Stalin
thereafter ruled Russia with an iron hand, as
had Lenin, from about 1929 to the day of his
death in 1953. It was a period of prolonged
terror, but also of achievement.When Hitler
invaded Russia in
1941, Stalin called
upon the people to
resist, and they did.
records. This was followed by 'Close
Encounters of the Third Kind' (1977),
'Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and 'E.T.'
(1982), which again broke all box-office
records. In 1982, Spielberg formed his own
film production company, making 'Gremlins'
(1984), 'Back to the Future' (1985), 'Who
Framed Roger Rabbit' (1988), 'Empire of the
Sun' (1988) and 'Hook' (1991).
They suffered untold
miseries
and
humiliations. Over
20,000,000 were
said to have died,
and many were permanently injured.
Spielberg's magic touch continued in 1993
with 'Jurassic Park', notable for its
computerized special effects. His next film,
about the Jewish Holocaust in World War II,
was markedly different - 'Schindler's List'
(1994) was made in black-and-white and won
six Oscars, including Best Film. In the same
year, he co-founded Dreamworks, the first
new film studio in Hollywood in 75 years.
Spielberg's most recent box-office hits have
been 'Saving Private Ryan' (1998) and 'AI'
(2001).
After the war Stalin was determined that the
frontiers in Europe should be drawn the way
he wanted them, and he dominated the
various peace conferences, largely by
managing to pull the wool over the eyes of
the Americans.
Steven Spielberg
b.1946
Notable films: 'Jaws' 1975; 'Raiders of the
Lost Ark' 1981; 'E. T.' 1982; 'Jurassic Park'
1993; 'Schindlers List' 1994; 'Saving Private'
Ryan 2000.
American film director
Tito (1892-1980)
Born in Cincinnati, USA, Spielberg made
Head of the Yugoslavian state
films as a child and by the age of 21 was a
television director for Universal. His first
television film, "Duel" (1972), was well
received. It was soon followed by his first
cinema film, a comedy, 'The Sugarland
Express' (1974).
(1946-1980)
The master of exploring fears and fantasies,
Spielberg's first major success was 'Jaws in
1975, which broke all previous box-office
When Tito died in 1980, he had governed
Yugoslavia for over half its history.
Yugoslavia had been formed in 1918 by
joining Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Macedonia,
Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina into
one nation. Tito raised it from obscurity to
the top rank of Third World nations. Tito was
born to Josif Broz in 1892 in Croatia, as one
320
WORLD HISTORY
of many children of a peasant family. He
received only elementary education, was
apprenticed to a locksmith, and then called
upon the Austro-Hungarian army in the First
World War. He was taken prisoner by the
Russians. In these months he saw much of
the backward and oppressed condition of the
Russian people, and he became a
communist. When the Russian Revolution
broke out, he joined the Red Army, and then
returned to the new Yugoslavia in 1920. From
that moment, Tito devoted his energies to the
cause of Yugoslav socialism. As a
revolutionary, he was continually in trouble,
had to live in disguise and adopt different
names, one of which was Tito. By 1937 he
was General Secretary of the Yugoslav
Communist Party.
When the Nazi Germans conquered
Yugoslavia in 1941, Tito organized guerrilla
forces to make life as difficult as possible
for the occupation troops. Throughout the
war, Tito gave them brilliant leadership,
planning and heading all major raids himself,
and succeeded in getting the Germans out
of his country.
After the war, the Soviet Union tried to get
Yugoslavia to become part of the Eastern
European communist power bloc, but Tito, a
nationalist as well as a communist, wanted
to make Yugoslavia a neutral independent
socialist state, with a greater degree of
personal freedom than was allowed in the
Soviet bloc. This led to bitter quarrels but
Tito held out. Tito was made President of
Yugoslavia for life in 1963.
Tolstoy, Leo
(1828-1910)
Russian Novelist
Tolstoy was a mystic who introduced a new
form of Christianity in Russia. He rejected
the Orthodox Church and preached a
Christianity based on the acceptance of evil,
through which good will eventually come. He
acquired a large following, and his creed was
greatly helped by his writings, including
novels as well as works on religion. His best
known novels are 'Anna
Karenina' and 'War and
'Peace'. 'War and
Peace' is a long tale
about Russia during the
time of Napoleon’s vain
attempt to conquer it in
1812, and it gives a lucid
insight as to how people in Russia reacted to
Napoleon’s invasion.
Truman, Harry S.
(1884 - 1972)
Americanpresident(1945-1953)
Harry Truman was suddenly thrust into
world prominence just before the end of the
Second World War in 1945. On April 12th,
President Roosevelt of the U.S.A. collapsed
and died, and Truman, as vice-president, had
to assume the office of president and
commander-in-chief of the American armed
services. Despite his high administrative skills
321
and his quick decision making, Truman was
War broke out in 1950, he sent U.S. forces
utterly unknown outside America and hardly
in to help the South Koreans.
famous at home. It was said that Roosevelt
had seldom consulted him even though
Truman was his deputy. But it is to Truman’s
eternal credit that he rose fully to the
In 1953, Truman decided not to stand for a
third term, though he was, by the law as it
stood then, quite entitled to.
demands of his new job and demonstrated
the highest statesmanship.
Harry Truman was born in Missouri and spent
some years in business and in farming. He
fought in the U.S. Army in the First World
War, and in the 1920s studied law, acted as a
Victor Hugo
(1802-1885)
French writer
county court judge and entered politics as a
Democrat. In 1934 he was elected senator
Hugo, one of the great figures in French
for Missouri and re-elected in 1940. He made
literature, established himself as a leader of
a name in the Democratic Party for skilful
the Romantic movement in his country with
chairing of senatorial committees, and when
his novels and verse. But he was not always
Roosevelt was reelected for his 4th term as
popular with the establishment, and the
president, in 1944, Truman was appointed
Emperor Louis Napoleon banished him.
vice-president.
Soon after he was in the presidential chair,
Truman announced that American and British
Born into the aristocracy, Hugo made a name
for himself at the age of 17 when he won
Scientists had exploded an atomic bomb, and
three prizes in a Toulouse poetry competition.
he gave the order for two to be dropped on
As well as novels Hugo wrote plays, among
Japan. The atomic bombing of Hiroshima
which was one on the English Lord Protector,
and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August 1945,
Cromwell. His full length books entitled "Les
induced Japan's surrender.
Misserabler" — is a masterpiece of social
Truman stood for a second term of office in
1948 and was re-elected despite poll
predictions that the Republicans would win
handsomely. Truman pledged American
support for the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO) and when the Korean
history.
322
WORLD HISTORY
Walter Scott
(1732-1799)
(1771-1832)
First President of the United
States (1789-1797)
Scottish novelist, poet and
biographer
Washington was commander of the armies
Walter Scott was the son of an Edinburgh
of the colonists in North America who in
lawyer. From early childhood he developed
1774 rebelled against the British government.
a keen interest in nature and in what went
They were protesting about having to pay
on about him. In 1792 he qualified as an
huge taxes to the British government whilst
advocate in Edinburgh and was made sheriff
they had no representation in the Westminster
of Selkirkshire in 1799. He had already begun
Parliament which imposed the taxes.
to write seriously as a profession.
In a nine-year war he succeeded in
He started by writing poetry, and eventually
overwhelming the
made a name for himself. He did not begin
British government
work on his novels until 1814, but then, over
forces, and forced
the next 18 years, he produced a wide range
Britain to recognize
of historical and adventure books under the
the independence of
title the Waverley Novels, of which the best
the United States,
known were 'Rob Roy', 'Ivanhoe', 'The
which had already
Bridge of Lammermoor', 'Quentin Durward'.
been declared on 4th
His output was enormous, but although he
July 1776.
earned a great deal of money he ran up large
Washington’s career was unblemished, and
debts, some of them on a huge house,
his success so decisive, that when the
Abbotsford, which he improved, but most on
Americans came to elect their first president
a number of publishing schemes that he was
it was not hard to guess who it would be. He
not good at managing. But he continued to
held office for two terms.
write, and he acquired many honours
including a baronetcy (in 1820), as well as
worldwide fame.
Washington George
323
INDIA'S GREAT LEADERS
WHO SHAPED HISTORY
daughter and three sons. The last son of
them was Mohandas Karam Chand Gandhi
and later he was called as Mahatma Gandhi.
Mahatma
Gandhi
nd
M ahatma Gandhi is the greatest and
th
exceptional personality of the 20 century
and this fact has been acknowledged by the
whole world. He underwent unaccountable
struggles and obtained independence for our
country. He is the father of our nation who
sacrificed his life for the sake of our country.
The family of Gandhi belonged to the trader’s
(BANIA) community. Gandhi’s grand father
Uttam Chand Gandhi was a Diwan in the
He was born on 2 October, 1869. When
he was studying in school itself, he was an
honest student. He was fascinated by the
drama by name,’Harichandra.’ He took a
vow, saying that he should speak always the
truth like Harichandra.
Marriage
When Gandhi was a student, he got married
at the age of 13. The bride’s name was
Kasturibai and she was the daughter of a
trader by name Gokuldoss Naganji who
belonged to BoreBunder. Her mother’s name
was Junavar Pa.
She was born in the same year April, 1869.
She was 5 months older than Gandhi.
Gandhi’s father and Kasturibai’s father were
comrades. By this way, they both discussed
and arranged for the marriage of their
children.
Princely State of Porbandar. (Gujarat State)
th
Uttam Chand Gandhi’s 5 son was Karam
Chand Gandhi known as Kabha Gandhi. He
was the father of Mahatma Gandhi. He was
a Chief Minister in Porbandar. He married
four times. His fourth wife Putlibai had one
At the time of marriage, Kasturibai did not
know to read and write. Later, she learnt to
read and write Gujarathi language.Gandhi
continued his education after his marriage
also. The family people of Gandhi were
vegetarians. A friend told Gandhi,’you are
so weak. See how healthy I am. The reason
for this is, I eat non-vegetarian food.’ Gandhi
believed his words and he ate non-vegetarian
food with him secretly. But later, his
conscience pricked him. “Is it worth telling a
324
WORLD HISTORY
lie? Should I deviate from the path of
honesty?” –thinking this way, he got much
upset. He wrote a letter narrating the events
and handed over it to his father. He pleaded
for apology from him. His father read this
letter and shed tears on noticing his honest
behaviour. Gandhi felt that his sin got
dissolved in his tears. When Gandhi was 16
years old, his father expired.
His Trip Abroad
Gandhi’s school education was over. One
of their family friends suggested that if Gandhi
wanted to attain a higher status in his life
like his father, he must go to foreign country
and study law. But his mother, Putlibai did
not give her consent for this suggestion. She
thought that his son would get flawed if he
goes abroad.As per the idea of a Jain saint,
he gave an assurance to his mother saying
that', I would not touch wine, woman and
flesh in foreign country.’ Then, he proceeded
to London.
He got acquainted with good friends. He
joined the group of vegetarians. He read
Bagavath Gita for the first time in London
only. He decided to lead a life as per the
philosophies given in Bagavath Gita. He
studied brilliantly. He returned to India with
the Degree of Bar-at-Law.
After he got down from the ship, his brother
passed the sad news to him. His mother
left for heavenly abode and this was the sad
news. He became very much hassled on
hearing news.
In India, the lawyer’s business was not doing
well. In South Africa, a company invited
Gandhi to argue for them in their cases. He
left his wife, his sons Harilal (age 7) and
Manilal (age 1) in his native place and
proceeded to South Africa. He landed in
Turban port in May 1893.
The agonies of Indians
When Gandhi went to South Africa to serve
as a lawyer, he witnessed the harassments
of the Indians. He was very much distressed
to see the South African Government’s
outlook of disparity with regard to the races
and the prevalence of repressive measures
adopted by it.
He conducted struggles of non-violence for
"the sake of Indians. (Most of them are Tamil
Labourers.) Gandhi had the intention of
staying in South Africa for one or two years
only but it so happened that he was forced
to prolong his stay till 1915 due to his
involvement in struggles. In the meanwhile,
he came to India and took his wife Kasturibai
Gandhi to South Africa. There, in 1897,
Ramadoss Gandhi and in 1900, Devadoss
Gandhi were born to them. Due to the
struggles conducted by him in South Africa,
he was ill-fated to get imprisoned several
times. He also got injured in the lathi charge.
Finally, in 1915 the struggle emerged
successful. He decided to return to India.
Before his departure to India, he met the
Prime Minister Smatch. He presented to him
2 pairs of chapels made by him. On different
occasion, Smatch told about this, I have worn
the chapels frequently presented to me by
Gandhi. But I consider that I am not fit
enough to wear the chapels presented by this
great gentle man.’
Gandhi’s return to India
th
On 9 January, 1915 Mahatma Gandhi
arrived in Bombay port with his family
members. His popularity was widely
extended in India due to his participation in
the struggles in South Africa. So, in the Port
325
several thousands of people
gathered and welcomed him.
On witnessing the agonies of the
Indian people, he wanted to
enter into politics to eradicate
their sufferings. As per the
instructions given by his political
Guru Gokhale, he toured all over
India and came to know about
the situation by analyzing it
directly.
Later,
he
established,’Sabarmathi
Karam Chand Gandhi -Father's of
Ashram’ in the city of
Putlibai. Gandhi's Mother
Mahatma Gandhi
Ahmedabad in Gujarat state and
looked after his political activities from there.
Though Gandhi told like this, Kasturibai was
very much disappointed thinking about her
The emergence of Gandhi Yuga
son. On one occasion, Harilal was drunk in
At that time, 'Thilagar Yuga’ was prevalent
a public place and was imprisoned. His
in the Indian Independence struggle. He
mother came to know about this incident.
remained as the greatest leader of the
She was very much disheartened at this
st
Congress. On 1 August, 1920 he passed
incident and wrote a letter of advice to her
away. After that, Mahatma headed the
son and pleaded him to change his attitude.
independence movements. In the Indian
But Harilal did not modify himself. When
Politics,’ Gandhi Yuga’ was born.
Kasturibai was in death bed, she wanted to
see her son. He was brought before her. At
Gandhi conducted several campaigns for
that time also, he was fully drunk. So his
attaining Independence. In all these struggles,
relatives took him out from that place.
Kasturibai also participated.
The blunder committed by his son
The elder son of Gandhi, Harilal was one of
the Directors of an organization by name,
'All India Stores Limited.’ Later it was found
to be a bogus organization. The police men
decided to take stern action against Harilal.
This news was informed to Mahatma. “I
am respectful to integrity. I would not go
hand in hand with the bad elements. The
culprits whoever may be, whether they are my son, my wife or I – We have to undergo
the punishment. ” – This is Mahatma’s reply.
Their last son Devadoss Gandhi was the
editor of a newspaper,’ Hindustan Times,’ in
Delhi. He wanted to marry Lakshmi, the
daughter of Rajaji. Both Gandhi and
Kasturibai acknowledged their marriage and
blessed the couple.
The death of Kasturibai
In the beginning of 1944, both Gandhi and
Kasturibai were in prison. At that time, the
health condition of Kasturibai was very
critical. Several Doctors inclusive of Dr.
Susheela Nair administered effective
326
treatment on her. But there
was no response for the
nd
treatment. On 22 February,
1944 Kasturibai breathed her
last by laying her head on her
husband’s lap.
Mahatma, who never used to
get depressed for any serious
matter, shed tears when his
wife passed away. His wife
was participating in all the ups
and downs of his life. She
followed her husband’s
footsteps and was with him in
the prison and observed
starvation along with him. So,
the separation of such a great soul created
extreme agony for him.
Before Kasturibai died, the words uttered by
her are as follows:- “In our lives, together
we have experienced so many joyous
occasions and sorrowful events.”
After uttering these words, a few minutes
later, Kasturibai left for heavenly abode.
Kasturibai expressed her desire earlier that
a hand woven saree by Gandhi should be
worn by her after death and her body should
be burnt along with that saree. According to
her desire, the same thing was carried out.
Partition
The British Government decided to offer
Independence to India. But Jinnah
demanded separate independent state
(Pakistan) is required for the Muslims.
Otherwise, he threatened a blood river
would flow across the country.’ Gandhi’s
attempts to change the mind of Jinnah, did
Kasturibai with sons Manillal,
Ramdass and Harilal
not succeed.
At the end, a situation arose as only if
partition occurred, India would attain
Independence and so left with no other
alternative, Gandhi accepted for the partition
half-heartedly.
Gandhi struggled a lot for obtaining
Independence to India throughout his life, but
he was not all the more happy after the
attaining of freedom because of the partition.
In addition to that, in several parts of India,
there were communal riots. So, Gandhi was
so much depressed and he did not even
participate in the Independence Day
Celebrations but proceeded to Calcutta and
attempted to resume peace in the regions
where riots occurred.
Mahatma who was much distressed on
witnessing the communal clashes said,’ I used
to say that I would live for 125 years. But
after witnessing all these unhappy events, I
would like to die now itself.’
327
INDIA'S GREAT LEADERS WHO SHAPED
327
His last Fast
th
On 11 January, 1948 in the Prayer
Assembly meeting which was held in the
Birla Palace, Gandhi rendered the following
speech:“In Delhi, there was no safety for the
Muslims. At the same time, I am aware of
the sufferings of the Hindus in Pakistan.
Though I would like to go to Pakistan for
consoling the Hindus, when there was no
safety for the Muslims in Delhi, how would I
go there? I am left with no other alternative
other than observing greatest fast till death.
th
On 13 January, my observation of fast
would start.”
Gandhi, when he arrived at India from
South Africa in the year 19
Th
He did not consult with Nehru or Patel about
his observation of fast. As per his
announcement, he began the fast at 11’0
th
clock in the morning on 13 January. Both
Nehru and Patel visited him and discussed
with him for a long time. Then in the prayer
meeting which was held in the evening, he
gave a speech. “If there was recovery of
peace in Delhi in the real sense of the term,
I would bring the observation of fast to an
end,” he announced.
Within two days, Gandhi became very weak.
He could not reach the dais of the Prayer by
walk.
During the partition of India – Pakistan, the
Indian Government agreed to offer Rs.55
crores and some assets to Pakistan. Due to
the Kashmir problem, that amount was
withheld. Gandhi insisted to give the already
agreed amount of Rs. 55 crores to Pakistan
and that, the Indian Government agreed to
pay the amount.
On 16 January, Gandhi spoke over the loud
speaker by lying down on his bed. “Both in
India and Pakistan there should be existence
of peace. Otherwise, I would not like to live.”
th
On 18 January, the representatives of all
organizations and the representatives of the
refugees under the leadership of Dr. Rajendra
Prasad met Gandhi. They assured that they
would safeguard the Muslims in Delhi and
there won’t be any communal clashes
thereafter. They gave a letter of assurance
by signing in it.
Therefore Gandhi stopped his fast at 12.45
th
in the noon on 18 which he continued for 5
days.
The throwing of bomb
th
On 20 January, when Gandhi was rendering
a speech at the Prayer Meeting in the Birla
Palace, there was an attempt to murder him.
A Hindu youth by name Madanlal threw a
bomb towards Gandhi. The bomb fell on the
ground 150 feet away from the place where
WORLD HISTORY
328
Gandhi was seated.
The policemen arrested him. He told the
police men that,’ Gandhi was supporting
Muslims and that is why I threw the bomb
on him.’ One more bomb was captured from
him.
This incident of throwing the bomb did not
perturb Gandhi even to a little extent. He
told the police men to pardon the man who
threw the bomb on him. “The people behind
the man, who threw the bomb, should
abandon these types of violent activities. This
is not the way to safeguard the religion of
Hinduism.” Gandhi Said.
Later, he used to attend the Prayer Meetings.
rd
When he came on 23 , he mentioned that it
was the birth day of Nethaji Subash Chandra
Bose and applauded him for the noble
sacrifices.
Kashmir should not be divided
th
On 27 January, Gandhi offered an
Interview to a foreign delegate.
“It was because of the Kashmir problem, a
clash arose between India and Pakistan. So,
Kashmir could be divided and one portion of
it could be handed over to Pakistan”, it was
suggested like this by the foreign
delegate.Gandhi categorically rejected the
suggestion. “Kashmir should not be divided”
– Gandhi expressed his opinion emphatically.
th
On 29 January, refugees came as a big
crowd and met Gandhi. “You are responsible
for all our miseries. You please go to the
Himalayas.” – A young man shouted with
anger at Gandhi.
Gandhi mentioned about this matter when he
spoke in the Prayer meeting on that day
evening. “I am not serving the society at the
instigation anyone. I am not going to
renounce that service by paying heed to
other’s comments. I am adhering to the
orders of God. Let him do anything with
regard to me. Even if he wishes, he could
kill me. I would enjoy living in Himalayas.
My Himalayas is here now. If you are
planning to reach Himalayas, please take me
along with you to Himalayas.”
His last day
th
The day on 30 January, 1948 is a day of
stain not only in the history of the World but
also in the history of mankind. When Gandhi
came to the Prayer meeting on that day, the
piercing bullets from the pistol of Nathuram
Gotse alienated all of us from Mahatma, the
patron of the human community.
The news of the shooting of Mahatma
stunned the whole world. Several people lost
their lives due to this sudden shock. In the
eighth chapter of Bagavath Gita in the fifth
stanza, Krishna Paramathma says,’ in the last
minute if a person keeps me in his memory
and leave his body, would unite with me.’
Gandhi uttered the name of Rama as,’Hey,
Ram’ for two times when he fell on the
ground when he was shot. This has to be
made a note of it. During the freedom
struggle, Gandhi was in the prison for 2089
days. He resided in the prison of South
Africa for 249 days.
At the time of his death, Einstein mentioned
the following statement:- "The future
generation would not even believe that such
a great soul existed in this world".
329
There is truth in his mentioning of fact. The
life history of Gandhi was equivalent to the
Epics and scriptures. That is the younger
generation who saw the film of Gandhi,
produced by Richard Atton borough, got
surprised as to whether it had happened in
the real history.
Gandhi’s body disappeared. But his name
would live in the history of the world till its
existence.
Gandhi wrote is autobiography entitled as
"The Story of my experiments with Truth"in
"Gandhian English" (which is simple in stlye
but effective in presentation). In the Book
he vividly and truthfully reported the
application of his doctrine of 'Truth' on the
challanges he met in his life. His life set an
example even to a saint how a man could
turn out to be 'IMMORTAL'.
Jawaharlal
Nehru
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru’s life is interwoven
closely with that of the Indian History. Next
to the Mahatma, he fascinated the people of
India with his praise-worthy qualities. He has
been glorified as,’ Precious stone among the
mass’ and,’ the architect of Modern India.’
The ancestors of Nehru belonged to Kashmir.
th
In the 18 century, they migrated to Delhi.
The grand father of Nehru was Gangadhar
Nehru. He passed away at the age of 34.
When he died, his wife was carrying a child.
The child was born to her three months after
her husband’s death and he was Motilal
Nehru.
Motilal Nehru had two brothers. The elder
brother Bansidar became a Judge. His
second brother turned out to be a lawyer.
Motilal also studied law and became a
lawyer. He acquired great success in his
profession. He amassed wealth like
anything. In Allahabad, he built a palace by
name,’Ananda Bhavan’ and started living
there.
Nehru was born
Motilal Nehru’s wife was Swarup Rani. She
was so beautiful and passive. Nehru was
th
born to this couple on 14 November, 1889.
He had two sisters. His first sister
Vijalakshmi was born in 1900 and his second
sister Krishna was born in 1907.
Passion for English
At the outset, Motilal had a great passion for
the English language. He used to wear coat
and suit. He conversed in English to a large
extent. Motilal aspired that his son should
330
WORLD HISTORY
go abroad for higher education. Accordingly,
Nehru proceeded to London for his higher
studies. He obtained the degree of Bar-atlaw.
He also took up lawyer’s profession like his
father. For the first time, he participated in
the Congress conference of 1912. The
orators rendered their speech in English
language only. So, Nehru could not secure
interest towards Congress. In 1915,
Mahatma Gandhi headed the independence
struggle when he returned from South Africa.
th
On 25 December, 1916 on Christmas day
Nehru met Gandhi for the first time. The
magnetic power of Gandhi attracted Nehru.
Nehru changed his father’s mind, who had
great passion for English language. Both
father and his son joined the Congress.
His marriage
In February, 1916 the marriage of Nehru and
Kamala took place. They both lived together
with proper understanding of each other.
Indira Gandhi was born as their daughter on
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19 November, 1917. After Indira was born
to them, Kamala delivered a male baby in
1924. But that child passed away within two
days.
Both Nehru and Kamala pampered their only
child Indira and brought her up in a luxurious
environment. Kamala also joined the
Congress, got involved in the freedom
struggle along with her husband and went to
prison several times. During the period
between December, 1913 to September
1935 Nehru spent 1,170 days in the prison.
Nehru with his parents
The death of Kamala
Kamala often fell sick. She was affected
by tuberculosis. She was taken to countries
like Switzerland and Germany and was given
treatment. But it was not of any use. On
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28 , February 1936 she passed away in the
country of Switzerland itself. Her body was
cremated there itself and the ashes were
brought to India.
Nehru was 47 years old when he lost his
wife. The death of his beloved wife affected
him very badly. Gandhi consoled him and
pacified him. In due course of time, the
Independence struggle got intensified. Nehru
took vigorous participation in it. His
imprisonment also continued for long time.
Gandhi’s heir
Though Nehru considered Mahatma as his
guide and guru, he had difference of opinion
with him on various occasions. He argued
with Gandhi for several times. But even then,
at the end he used to proceed in the path
shown by Gandhi.
When a question arose among the Congress
leaders and in the minds of the people as to
who would succeed Gandhi, Mahatma
announced emphatically that,’ Nehru is my
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heir.’ On 25 January, 1942 in the magazine
called,’Harijan’ Gandhi wrote the following:“Differences of opinion cannot create a rift
between me and Nehru. Right from the day
of our introduction onwards, there have been
differences of opinion between us. Once
again, I would like to ascertain the same
statement which I have been revealing for
few years. My heir is Jawaharlal Nehru only
and not Rajaji!
“Nehru says that my views and attitudes are
not understood by him and his speech and
attitudes are not comprehended by me. This
may be right or wrong. But when there is
100% existence of harmony of our souls,
these talks cannot be hindrances for our
binding relationship.
I very well know that though Nehru
possesses different views now, but after my
death he would utter my ideas only!” Gandhi
wrote in the magazine and on different
occasions he told the following:“No one can excel Nehru with regard to
courage. Even in patriotic feeling there is
no equal to him. He is full of enthusiasm
and though he attacks like a warrior, he has
diplomatic tactics in him.
He is extremely frank like a crystal and he
would not deviate from justice. The country
would be safe in his hands.”
331
The words uttered by Gandhi became
virtually true. Though Nehru was born in an
affluent family, he remained in prison for the
sake of our country. After India obtained
independence, Nehru took charge as the First
Prime Minister of India.
The architect of Modern India
Nehru wished to upgrade India equivalent to
the western countries. For that purpose he
laid out the Five Year Plans. He established
big industries. All the countries inclusive of
America and Russia extended love and
respect towards Nehru. Nehru did not lean
towards any super power but he maintained
neutrality. He also headed the neutral
countries.
In January 1963, when he participated in the
Congress Conference in Bhuvaneswar in
Orissa State, he became sick. He was
affected by slight paralytic stroke. But, he
recovered after treatment.
The doctors advised him to take rest. He
took rest for few days only. Then as usual,
he participated in the Parliamentary
proceedings and also got involved in the
debates.
His last days
In May 1964, he went to the city of
Dehradoon and took rest for a few days.
Even at that time, he used to go through the
Government files and signed them. He also
read books and indulged in writing also. He
met his old friends and conversed with them.
th
On 26 May, he returned to Delhi. He was
very happy and cheerful.
WORLD HISTORY
332
Till mid-night he was looking after the
Governmental activities. At 12’0 clock, he
th
went to sleep. On 27 May, when he woke
up from bed, he was very tired. He started
reading a book. But he could not read the
book continuously. Again, he lay down on
the bed.
The doctors were informed about his critical
condition. Very senior doctors hurriedly came
and started administering treatment on him.
The news of Nehru’s critical condition of
health spread like a wild fire throughout Delhi.
Several thousands of people gathered in front
of his house.
Darkness set in
Though doctors tried their level best, they
could not save the life of Nehru. At 2’0 clock,
Nehru passed away. When Nehru was in
his death bed, his daughter Indira Gandhi was
near him. The death of Nehru stunned the
whole world. It appeared as though India
became an orphan.
th
On 28 May, the funeral procession took
place with the guard of honour. Lakhs of
people participated in the procession. Many
world leaders came and paid their tributes to
the departed soul. Then, Nehru’s body was
cremated on the banks of the River Yamuna.
His grand son, Sanjay Gandhi set the fire for
the funeral pyre.
As per the Will of Nehru, his body’s ashes
was scattered on the Himalayas and the
cultivable lands from the aircrafts.
Writer
Nehru was a great writer and an orator too.
When Nehru was in prison during the period
th
th
starting from 26 March 1930 to 9 August
1933, he wrote a bunch of 176 letters to his
daughter Indira describing about the World
History.
All these letters were compiled and was
published as a book by name, "The Glimpses
of World History". This book which contains
1000 pages is applauded to be one of the
world’s greatest literatures.
Besides these, Nehru wrote two other books
viz., "The Discovery of India" and "An
autobiography". Even these two books were
written by him when he was in prison.
In Delhi, the house (Tin Moorthy) where
Nehru lived is converted into a memorial
house. A cemetery was constructed where
his body was cremated and it is known as,
'Shantivan.’
There is no doubt in the fact that Nehru
sacrificed his life for the welfare of our
country and it is no exaggeration if we say
that his life history has been engraved by
golden letters in the annals of Indian History.
'Nethaji' Subash
Chandra Bose
Mahatma Gandhi apprehended the weapon
of Non-violence to acquire Independence for
India whereas Subash Chandra Bose used
cannon as his weapon to obtain freedom for
333
His youth phase
Nethaji’s father acquired excellent income.
They even used to tame animals like
horses, goats, cows, deer and peacocks.
His family was flourishing in all possible
manners.
After passing his Matriculation
examination, Bose proceeded to Calcutta
and joined the Presidency College.
our nation.
Though the method involved by both of them
varied to fight for independence, the objective
for both of them was the same.
Mahatma won the freedom by his strong
aspiration. But when Subash Chandra Bose
marched towards his goal path with brimming
strength, destiny was responsible for making
him to separate from us totally. This brave
soldier left for heavenly abode without enjoying
the fruitfulness of the obtaining of freedom for
our country.
Family
Janakinath Bose was a reputed lawyer in
Bengal. He migrated to Orissa and served as
the Government lawyer. He also held the post
of Chairman of the Cuttack city for sometime.
Subash Chandra Bose was born to Janakinath
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and Prabavathi Devi as the 9 child on
23.1.1897.
When he was studying for B.A. Honors,
an English Professor slapped the students
without any serious motive. Bose
condemned this action of the Professor and
also sought an apology from him. When
the Professor refused to ask for apology,
the students under the leadership of Bose
went on a strike.
At that time, that Professor was attacked
by the students. Though Bose was not
involved in that matter, a charge was
framed against him in an unjustifiable way.
So, due to this, his education was blocked
for a year.
Then, he rejoined in a different college and
he came out with a first class in B.A.
Honors when he was 22 years old.
At this juncture, the freedom struggle was
going on vigorously. Among the Congress
leaders, Aurobindo, who was a
revolutionary writer, attracted Bose by his
speech and his articles.
During this time, the First World War was
in full swing. A revolutionary fire broke
out in the minds of Bose on seeing the
Indians harassed by the British people and
he was also inspired by reading the
magazines.
334
WORLD HISTORY
He had great interest in Spiritualism also and
he read books on Swami Vivekananda. He
was greatly inspired by the words of Swami
Vivekananda who preached that we must
live for our self liberation and for the sake of
humanity and that should be our goal.
ICS Education
His father wanted him to study for ICS in
London and he also wished him to become a
collector. But Bose did not have interest in
the ambition. He thought that if I become a
collector, I would become a slave of the
British and work under them.
But even then, he could not totally reject his
parents’ wish. He proceeded to London by
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ship on 9 September, 1919. He reached
London after 5 weeks of sailing in ship. He
joined the Cambridge University.
mind. He did not want to serve under the
British and so he decided to disclaim his ICS
Degree.
He was a brilliant student. He was very
much tensed on seeing the maltreatment of
the British. Particularly, he was very much
annoyed and affected by the Jallianwalabagh
massacre. He wanted to rethink whether to
write the ICS examination or go back to India.
With disgusted mindset, he wrote the
examination.
There was letter correspondence between
him and his brother Sarat Chandra Bose
regarding the above said matter for many
days. He said that many leaders were
sacrificing their own lives for the sake of
motherland and renouncing this ICS Degree
was not that great and he returned to India
in July 1921 without obtaining the Degree.
He thought that he did not write the
examination well and he could not get through
the same. But to his amazement, he got
through the examination with flying colours.
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He got the 4 rank among the top students
from other countries.
His meeting with Gandhi
In those days, to come out successful in ICS
examination was equivalent to attaining the
greatest peak and it was a wonderful event
in his life.
Then on the advice of Gandhi, Bose met
Chittaranjan Doss who was one of the
important leaders of the Congress and a
reputed lawyer. He accepted him as his Guru
and decided to get himself involved in the
war of independence vigorously.
But even then, Subash did not have a peaceful
Anitha with Nehru (1958)
After returning to India, Bose met Gandhi
and spoke had discussion him. Gandhi
cherished him for renouncing his ICS
Degree.
335
Imprisonment
condition of the British Government.
In 1921, the police arrested Chittaranjan Doss
and Subash Chandra Bose. Five months
imprisonment was imposed on Bose. Bose
got puzzled and thought whether only this
much was the punishment specified to him
for the struggles he undertook in his
involvement in the freedom movement.
Many strikes were held to make Subash
Chandra Bose to get released from prison.
As his physical fitness got much worsened,
the British Government released him without
any other alternative. Subash went to
Switzerland to undergo treatment for his
ailment. There was significant improvement
in his health.
It was his first imprisonment which was very
less but subsequently the British Government
arrested him repeatedly and harassed him.
In 1924, the British Government arrested him
and sent to Montle prison in Burma.
Mortle prison was without having any
hygienic facilities and so his health got
deteriorated. The British Government
categorically told him that he should go to a
foreign land and take treatment for his
ailment; otherwise, if he wished to stay back
in India, he would not be released from
prison. But Bose did not accept this
After he became completely alright, he toured
many countries like England, France and
Germany. He met Mussolini and had a word
with him in Italy.
Congress Leader
In 1938 at the Congress conference which
was held in Haripura, he was elected as the
leader. “We should not only grab the
assemblies but we should struggle hard to
drive out the English men from our country.”
– This was the gist of his speech at the
Nethaji with India National Army (I.N.F.) with Cap. Lakshmi.
336
Emily (2nd in Standing) with Sarat Chandra Bose Family. Anitha seen with
Sasirkumar Bose.
conference.
His reputation got widened across the
country. People called him as “Netaji” which
means Leader.
The vigorous attitude of Bose was not liked
by the Congress leaders and particularly
Mahatma Gandhi did not favour his militant
approach. Netaji and Nehru were close
friends. Nehru spoke in support of Netaji to
Gandhiji many times.
But in 1940, When Netaji announced that he
was going to contest for the post of Congress
leadership, Gandhi announced the name of
Pattabi Sitaramiah as an opponent of Netaji.
In that election, Pattabi was defeated.
Gandhi uttered that the defeat of Pattabi was
his defeat.
Bose was disheartened at this statement of
Gandhi and he resigned the post of the
Congress leadership.
His escape
The British Government arrested Bose once
again. As he had a weak state of health, he
was kept under house arrest.
He came to a conclusion that he should not
be idle but to proceed to a foreign land and
gather the army to fight with the British and
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make India a free nation. On 15 January,
1941, he left his house in the disguise of a
muslim.
He outwitted the British army and the
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emissaries and reached Germany on 28
March via Afganistan. He met and
conversed with Hitler in Germany. Hitler
offered his full encouragement for the
freedom struggle launched by Bose.
In December 1941, Japan plunged into the
Second World War. It could capture
Singapore very easily.
So, with the help of the Japanese people,
Bose decided to combat England. He
contacted the Japanese Government in
connection with this matter. He went to
Japan in a submarine. He was given a warm
welcome in Japan.
The National Army in Singapore
Then he went to Singapore. Rash Bihari
Ghosh, a freedom fighter was in Singapore
at that time. He set up the “Indian National
Army” with the help of the Indian soldiers
who surrendered to Japan from the British
army. He was not able to lead this army
successfully. So, he handed over the
responsibility and the post of the captain of
the Indian National Army to Netaji.
When Netaji took over the charge as the
Captain, he rendered the speech and said,” I
would like to take a vow in the name of the
Almighty. I would struggle hard to free India
from the British yoke till my last breath. My
aim is the welfare of my motherland. I would
offer the last drop of my blood also for the
sake of India.
He set up the Independent Indian
st
Government on 21 Octoboer, 1943. The
people of Singapore rendered crores of
rupees and ornaments for the endeavours of
Netaji.
There were 50,000 soldiers in the Indian
National Army. Nearly 1500 officers were
337
scrutinizing their activities.
The women’s army was named as, "Jhansi
Rani Army". It functioned under the
leadership of Major Lakshmi who belonged
to Tamil Nadu.
“Delhi Chalo”
th
On 7 January, 1941, the office of the head
quarters of the “Indian Independent
Government” was shifted from Singapore to
Rangoon. Netaji ordered the Indian National
Army to free India from the British bondage.
When Netaji shouted, "Delhi Chalo” The
Indian National Army entered into India. (the
kingdom of Manipur) The southern part of
this kingdom was captured by this army.
The Indian National Army also seized the
city of Kohima.
In the meanwhile, majority of the British
army attacked the Indian National Army.
There was a stiff fight between the two sides.
The surrender of Japan
At this juncture, there was an unexpected
turning point in the war. Japan surrendered
to England following the bomb blast of
America on them.
Netaji discussed with the Japanese officers
as what to do further and planned to proceed
to Russia.
th
He started in a plane on 16 August, 1945.
The radio of Tokyo announced that the plane
th
was crashed in Formosa on 18 August and
Netaji was severely injured in that accident.
He was admitted in a hospital in Japan but
he collapsed though he was given the best
338
WORLD HISTORY
treatment.
The whole world got stunned on hearing this
news. The people of India shed their tears.
Secret Marriage
Netaji was thinking about the freedom of
India as his life ambition and so he did not
think about his marriage. While he was in
India, the news reporters used to question
him about his marriage. At that time, he used
to reply saying, "My sole thinking is about
the freedom of the country and so I do not
have time to think about my marriage.
Further to this, marriage is my personal
matter and it should not be discussed
publicly.”
But then, the news about his marriage which
was held while he was in Germany came to
limelight after his death. An Austrian lady
by name Emily was his personal assistant
when Netaji was in Europe in 1934. The
high ambitions of Netaji fascinated her very
much and the noble qualities of Emily
attracted Netaji. Both of them got married
in December, 1947. A female baby was born
to them and its name was Anitha.
In his letter to his brother Sarat Chandra Bose
in February, 1943, Bose had mentioned about
his marriage. “There may be a threat to my
life in my war against the British. If I happen
to lose my life, kindly take care of my wife
and my child” – He specified in his letter.
The brother of Netaji, Sarat Chandra Bose
was ten years elder to him. He also took
part in the war of independence. He toured
along with his wife, son Sisirkumar Bose and
his two daughters across the countries of
Europe in 1948.
At that time, they met Emily, the wife of
Netaji and their daughter Anitha in the city
of Vienna, the capital of Austria.
Sisirkumar Bose had mentioned about this
meeting in a book and the contents are as
follow:“ It was thrilling to note the occasion of the
first meeting of my parents with my paternal
aunt, Emily. When we reached Vienna, our
aunt came to the airport.”
We went to the hotel which was exclusively
arranged for us. My parents had a very
extensive discussion with my aunt with open
heartedness.
The next day afternoon, we went to our aunt’s
house. There we met Anitha, the daughter
of my paternal uncle for the first time. She
came running with a smiling face.
On seeing her, my father was very
sentimental and wept for a while.
My mother presented a Banaras Saree and
a pair of bangles to my aunt. These presents
were given to enlighten the fact that our aunt
had become one among us in our family.
We stayed with Anitha and my aunt in Vienna
for a week. We cannot forget those days.”
Sisirkumar Bose who wrote this book expired
in February, 1950.
Emily, the wife of Netaji passed away in
1996. Their daughter Anitha, is serving as
an Economic professor in a university in
Germany. Her husband’s name is Martin
Pope. He is an expert in Economics and he
is also the member of the Parliament of
Germany.
It is to be observed that when Jawaharlal
Nehru was the Prime Minister of India,
Anitha came to Delhi and met him.
The couple Anitha and Martin have two sons
and one daughter.
Indira Gandhi
T he year
1917 occupies a historical
significance. In that year only, the First World
War was approaching the end; in that year
only, Indira Gandhi was born.
339
car was invented in 1904, he was the first
Indian to import the car.
When Indira Gandhi was a child, the
independence struggle was vigorously going
on. Both Nehru and his wife Kamala were
forced to be in prison and it was inevitable
that Indira Gandhi was left alone. In the year
1925, Indira’s mother Kamala was admitted
into the hospital due to illness. The doctors
advised that she could be taken to
Switzerland for further treatment and so
Nehru took her to Switzerland. Indira Gandhi
also accompanied them. Her education
continued in that country.
Indira Gandhi also studied in Santiketan run
by Ravindranath Tagore in Calcutta for some
time. In Allahabad, Anand Bhavan, Motilal
had a library. Indira learnt more from the
books in that library than in school. Apart
from that, Nehru wrote the World History
as letters to Indira Gandhi. Through these,
she acquired the wisdom of the world.
Feroz Gandhi
A young man by name Feroz Gandhi who
participated in the independence struggle
used to come to Anand Bhavan to meet
Motilal and Nehru. At that time, he had the
opportunity to move closely with the family
members of Nehru.
Kamala, who was undergoing treatment in
Switzerland, was taken to Germany and got
admitted into a hospital there, on the advice
of the doctors.
Indira Priyadarsini was born as the only
daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru and Kamala
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on 19 November, 1917 in Anand Bhavan in
Allahabad.
Anand Bhavan consisted of 37 rooms. Her
grand father was a multi- millionaire. When
Feroz Gandhi, who came to know about the
critical condition of Kamala, proceeded to
Germany and met her. He was greatly
helpful to Nehru family.
The health condition of Kamala became
worse day by day. So, again she was taken
340
WORLD HISTORY
back to Switzerland and she was admitted
into the Nehru tuberculosis hospital. Without
getting cured of her disease, she passed away
th
on 28 February, 1936. In the room where
she was about to die, Nehru was present
along with Indira Gandhi and Feroz Gandhi.
After the death of Kamala, Nehru returned
to India. Indira continued her education in
Switzerland.
Marriage
Indira, who lost her mother at the age of
nineteen, was very much depressed and Feroz
was consoling her. Indira was very much
impressed by the love and affection of Feroz
Gandhi towards her and her family. Slowly
she made up her mind to get enslaved by
Feroz Gandhi.
Indira Gandhi’s education was over and both
Indira Gandhi and Feroz Gandhi decided to
marry. At that time, Nehru was in prison.
Indira met her father in the prison and
expressed her desire to marry Feroz Gandhi.
By this decision of Indira Gandhi, Nehru was
very much astonished and perturbed. The
reason for that was that Feroz Gandhi
belonged to the Parsi religion and he was
also hailed from a middle class family.
“Is Feroz equivalent to your education and
capability? You think well and come to a
decision.” – Like this Nehru told Indira.
Indira was firm in her decision. “You go and
meet Mahatma and express your desire. If
he acknowledges your wish, I have no
objection.” Nehru informed her daughter.
Indira Gandhi met Mahatma and expressed
her desire. “Feroz Gandhi might be of
Indira with per parents
different religion. But if both of you are in
love with each other, it should not be objected
in the name of caste or religion. I would
offer my blessings for your marriage.” – So
said Mahatma.
th
On 26 March, 1942 the marriage of Indira
and Feroz was conducted in a grand manner
in Ananda Bhavan where Indira was born.
The marriage was conducted in the Hindu
style with rituals. Later it was registered
legally.
After the marriage, both Indira and Feroz
Gandhi migrated to a rented house in
Allahabad itself. They participated vigorously
in independence struggles and Congress
party activities.
For the couple Indira and Feroz, the first child
was born on 20.8.1944. He was Rajeev
Gandhi. Their next child Sanjay Gandhi was
born on 14.12.1946.
Editor of a magazine
It was a time when independence was fast
approaching. Jawaharlal Nehru was running
a magazine by name, 'National Herald', from
1937 onwards. The office of this magazine
was in Lakshmanapuri. Nehru handed over
the post of Administrative Director of that
magazine to Feroz Gandhi.
After the independence, Nehru became the
Prime Minister. At that time, Feroz was a
Member of Parliament. His speeches in the
Parliament were very thought-provoking.
th
At this juncture, on 8 September, 1960
Feroz Gandhi suddenly died of heart attack.
When, he was only 48 and Indira was only
43. Indira Gandhi was very much upset by
her husband’s untimely demise. It took a
long time for her to get relieved of the agony.
341
She attempted to put behind her distress by
involving herself in assisting her father’s
activities and looking after her children. She
took vigorous part in the Congress activities
also.
Whenever Nehru went to foreign countries,
Indira also used to accompany him. Due to
this, she was introduced to world leaders and
she also fascinated the people of many
countries.
Became the Prime Minister
th
On 27 May, 1964 Jawaharlal Nehru passed
away. Following his dead, Lal bahadur Sastri
became the Prime Minister. Both Kamaraj
and Lal Bahadur Sastri wished that India
should shine under the able leadership of
Indira Gandhi. So, in the Cabinet of Lal
Bahadur Sastri, Indira Gandhi found a place
Indira with Feroz Gandhi
WORLD HISTORY
342
nd
as Broad casting Minister. On 2 July, she
assumed the responsibility. Indira occupied
th
the 4 place in the cabinet next to Sastri,
Nanda, (Home department) and T.T.
Krishnamachari. (Finance)
At that time, Indira Gandhi was not a
Parliamentary member. Those who assumed
the charge as the Ministers should become
the members of the Parliament (in either of
the houses) within six months. So, in August
1964, Indira Gandhi was elected as a member
of Lok Sabha.
th
Unexpectedly, Sastry passed away on 11
January, 1966 in the wee hours due to a
massive heart attack in Tashkent after signing
the Tashkent pact. Kamaraj and the majority
of the Congress MPs wished that Indira
Gandhi should take charge as the next Prime
Minister. But Moraji Desai contested against
her.
In this, Indira Gandhi won 355 votes and
became the Prime Minister. Moraji Desai
secured only 169 votes. Though Indira
Gandhi was new to the Prime Minister’s post,
the training she underwent from her father
Nehru aided her a lot. She was able to tackle
all the critical problems facing the country
with stern will power.
It was a time when the Mijo tribals and Nagas
revolted against the Government to obtain a
separate state for themselves. She crushed
the revolt efficiently. She undertook several
measures to eradicate the prevalence of
famine in various parts of the country.
Her first election
She toured all over India for 15,200 miles
and rendered speeches for the election
campaigning in 160 election meetings. But
even then, out of 16 states, Congress was
defeated in 8 states inclusive of Tamil Nadu.
In Tamil Nadu, the DMK Government took
over charge of ruling the State. Though
Congress was defeated in 8 states, on all
India basis, in the Parliament Congress could
win the majority. So, Indira Gandhi became
the Prime Minister once again.
Indira Gandhi confronted so many critical
problems efficiently. In the Presidential
elections, as she supported V.V. Giri, there
broke out a split in the Congress in November,
1969. She took a bold decision of dissolving
the Parliament and conducting the fresh
elections in December, 1970. In the elections
which were held in March, 1971, Indira
Congress secured a tremendous victory. Out
of 518 seats, Indira congress won 350 seats,
(With 2 /3 rd majority) and Indira became
the Prime Minister for the third time.
War with Pakistan
th
On 4 December 1971, Pakistan waged war
against India. The tactics followed by Indira
Gandhi in the war fetched a great victory
for India. The East Pakistan got separated
from Pakistan and became an independent
Country by name, 'Bangladesh'.
President V.V. Giri awarded Indira Gandhi
th
,’ 'Bharat Ratna' title on 18 December for
her outstanding victory in the war. All the
party members praised Indira Gandhi.
rd
Within one year of her assuming office of
the Prime Minister, in 1967 elections were
held for both the Parliament and the state
Assemblies. Indira Gandhi contested from
the Raibereli constituency.
On July 3 , 1972 Indira Gandhi and Bhutto,
the Pakistan Prime Minister met at Simla and
discussed about the peace procedures. A
Peace Pact was signed in Simla.
343
Emergency
Situation
The year 1975 is considered
to be an important and
stressful period in the life of
Indira Gandhi.
The Allahabad court issued
th
a verdict on 12 June, 1975
stating that the election of
Indira Gandhi from the
Raibereli Constituency was
not valid. Indira Gandhi
obtained an Interim Stay
order for the judgment and
appealed against it.
The opposition parties
arranged for big revolts for
demanding the resignation of Mrs. Indira
Gandhi. So, Indira Gandhi proclaimed,’ The
Emergency situation.’ Several leaders were
imprisoned. In the independent India, for the
first time, Press Censorship was brought.
The Supreme Court offered a judgment on
th
7 November, 1975 stating that the election
of Indira Gandhi from Raibereili
Constituency was valid. Following this, Indira
Gandhi decided to dissolve the Parliament
and face the elections.
In the Parliamentary elections of March
1977, all the opposition parties united together
in one bloc and set up a,’Janata Party’ and
resisted Indira Gandhi. They conducted the
election campaigns by putting forward the
events which occurred beyond the limits
during the emergency period.
In this election, Janata party secured 299
seats and the Congress won 155 seats. Indira
Indira Gandhi's family
Gandhi who contested from Raibereli
constituency was defeated by Raj Narayan.
Moraji Desai became the Prime Minister.
When Janata party took over the rule, it
started giving troubles to Indira Gandhi. She
was arrested and imprisoned. But even then,
the court released her.
In November, 1977 in the Parliamentary Byelctions, Indira Gandhi emerged victorious
from the Chikmakalur Constituency. His MP
post was abolished by the Janata
Government. It arrested Indira Gandhi for
the second time and kept her in Tihar Jail.
This time also, she was set free by the court.
As there was no unity among the Janata
party leaders, the Government of Moraji
Desai fell down in July, 1978. Instead of
Moraji Desai, Charan Singh became the
Prime Minister.
344
WORLD HISTORY
That cabinet could not sustain even for a
month. So it was ordered to dissolve the
Parliament and to conduct the fresh
elections.
In January, 1980 in the elections, the Indira
Congress obtained victory with absolute
majority. Indira Gandhi contested from two
constituencies namely Raibereili and Medak
and won from both the places. Sanjay
Gandhi who contested from Amethi
constituency also won in the elections. Indira
Gandhi, who lost the rule 3 years before,
captured it again and was elected as the
th
Prime Minister of India for the 4 time on
th
14 January, 1980.
Sanjay Gandhi
These joyous moments obtained due to the
victory in the elections did not last for long
time. Sanjay Gandhi who was supporting
her to a great extent died in a plane crash on
rd
23 June, 1980. The training aircraft which
he was traveling got crushed in front of his
house in Delhi.
The untimely demise of Sanjay Gandhi
affected Indira Gandhi very badly. But even
then, she consoled herself and involved in
the activities of the country. She invited her
elder son Rajeev Gandhi who was a pilot to
assist her in her activities.
The revolt of the Sikhs in the beginning of
1984 for obtaining separate state reached its
peak. Due to their violent attacks, hundreds
of people lost their lives.
Indira Gandhi pleaded to them to stop the
revolt but they did not pay heed to her
request. The Sikh terrorists hid themselves
in the Amirtsar temple and started the war.
So, the Indian military forces entered into the
temple. There was a tough exchange of fire
between the military forces and the
terrorists. In the confrontation the terrorists
were killed and the golden temple was
damaged. Due to this incident, the Sikhs
developed hatred towards Indira Gandhi.
Shot Dead
st
The day of 31 October, 1984 is a blood
stained day in the history of India. On that
day morning, Indira Gandhi was shot dead
by her two Security Guards who were sikhs
Indira Gandhi has been mentioned as a brave
th
and excellent woman of the 20 century in
the whole world by the historical writers.
Indira Gandhi, the precious gem of India, lived
for the sake of a distinctive goal and left for
heavenly abode for the fulfillment of her goal.
She would dwell in the hearts of the Indians
for ever!
Jayaprakash
Narayan
J ayaprakash
Narayan ( October 11,
1902 - October 8, 1979), widely known
as JP, was an Indian freedom fighter and
political leader. He was one of the few
leaders
of
modern India
who fought for
its independence
and took part in
active politics
for a long time
after it became
independent.
He was born
in Sitabdiara, village in Ballia district
of Uttar Pradesh, and did his higher
studies in politics and sociology in the
United States. He adopted Marxism while
studying at Madison, Wisconsin under
Edward Ross; he was also deeply
influenced by the writings of M. N. Roy.
After returning to India, JP joined the
Indian National Congress on the invitation
of Jawaharlal Nehru in 1929; Mahatam
Gandhi would be his mentor in the
Congress.
During
the
Indian
independence movement, he was
arrested, jailed, and tortured several times
by the British. He won particular fame
during the "Quit India movement".
JP married Prabhavati Devi, a freedom
fighter in her own right and a staunch
disciple of Kasturba Gandhi in October
1920; she stayed in Sabarmati ashram
while JP was abroad and became a
devoted Gandhian; she often held
opinions which were not in agreement
with JP’s views, but JP respected her
independence. She was the older daughter
of Brajkishore Prasad, one of the first
Gandhians in Bihar and one who played
345
a major role in Gandhi’s campaign in
Champaran.
After being jailed in 1932 for civil
disobedience against British rule, he was
imprisoned in Nasik Jail, where he met
Ram Manohar Lohia, Minoo Masani,
Achyut Patwardhan, Ashok Meta, Yusuf
Desai and other national leaders. After his
release, the Congress Socialist Party, a leftwing group within the Congress, was
formed with Acharya Narendra Deva as
President and JP as General secretary.
During the Quit India movement of
1942, when senior Congress leaders were
arrested in the early stages, JP, Lohia and
Basawon Singh (Sinha) were at the
forefront of the agitations. Leaders such
as Jayaprakash Narayan and Aruna Asaf
Ali were described as “the political children
of Gandhi but recent students of Karl
Marx.”
After independence and the death of
Mahatma Gandhi; JP, Acharya Narendra
Dev and Basawon Singh (Sinha) led the
CSP out of Congress to become the
opposition Socialist Party, which later took
the name Praja Socialist Party.
Initially a defender of physical force,
JP was won over to Gandhi’s position on
nonviolence and advocated the use of
satyagrahas to achieve the ideals of
democratic socialism. Furthermore, he
became deeply disillusioned with the
practical experience of socialism in
Nehru’s India.
346
WORLD HISTORY
On 19 April 1954, JP announced in
Gaya that he was dedicating his life
(Jeevandan) to Vinoba Bhave’s Sarvodaya
movement and its Bhoodan campaign,
which promoted distributing land to
Harijans (untouchables). He gave up his
land, set up an ashram in Hazaribagh, and
worked towards uplifting the village.
In 1957, JP formally broke with the
Praja Socialist Party. JP returned to the
prominence in State politics in the late
1960s. In 1974, he devoted himself to the
peasants’ struggle known as the Bihar
movement, which demanded the
resignation of the provincial government.
EMERGENCY
When Indira Gandhi was found guilty
of violating electoral laws by the
Allahabad High Court, JP demanded the
resignation of Indira Gandhi and
advocated a program of social
transformation which he termed
Sampoorna kraanthi [Total Revolution].
Instead she proclaimed a national
Emergency on the midnight of 25 June
1975, immediately after JP had called for
the PM’s resignation and had asked the
military and the police to disregard
unconstitutional and immoral orders; JP,
opposition leaders, and dissenting
members (the ‘Young turks’) of her own
party were arrested on that day.
JP was kept as detenu at Chandigarh
even after he had asked for a month’s
parole for mobilising relief in areas of
Bihar gravely affected by flood. His health
suddenly deteriorated on 24 October, and
he was released on 12 November;
diagnosis at Jaslok Hsopital, Bombay,
revealed kidney failure; he was on dialysis
for the rest of his life.
After Indira revoked the emergency on
18 January 1977 and announced
elections, it was under JP’s guidance that
the socialist-leaning Janata Party was
formed. Janata Party was voted into
power, and became the first non-Congress
party to form a government at the Centre.
Jayaprakash died on 8th October
1979. In 1998, he was posthumously
awarded the 'Bharat Ratna' award in
recognition of his social work.
Rajiv Gandhi
Rajiv Gandhi, who was the first son of
Indira Gandhi, took charge as the Prime
Minister of India
after the death of
his mother. He
was born on 20th
August, 1944.
After finishing
his primary education in Dehradoon School,
he joined the Imperial College in London and
studied engineering. Then, he joined
Cambridge University. In the same
university, Sonia also obtained her education.
At that time, they both got introduced. With
347
immediately and faced the elections. Indira
Congress secured tremendous victory in the
Parliamentary elections which were held in
December, 1984.
the blessings of his mother, they both got
married in February, 1968.
Rajiv Gandhi did not wish to participate
in the politics and so served as a pilot. When
his brother Sanjay Gandhi collapsed in the
plane crash in June, 1980 on the advice of
Indira Gandhi, Rajeev Gandhi was drawn into
politics. He was elected from his brother’s
constituency. He took charge as the General
Secretary of the Indira Congress in 1983.
Following the incident of the assassination
of Indira Gandhi on 31st October, 1984,
Rajeev Gandhi assumed the office of the
Prime Minister. He dissolved the Parliament
Rajiv Gandhi, who took over charge as
the Prime Minister of India once again,
brought several economic reforms. When
he was serving the nation without any black
mark in his career like obtaining bribe etc,
the Bofors case emerged as a giant sized
problem. The opposition parties blamed
Rajeev Gandhi that he also had a share in
procuring the Bofors cannons and the
corruptions related to it.
As a result of this, in the elections which
were held in 1989, Indira Congress was
totally defeated. The National Front
Government under the leadership of
V.P.Singh came to power. On account of his
cabinet being crushed, with the support of
Rajiv Gandhi, Chandra Sekar became the
Prime Minister. Later, when Rajiv Gandhi
withdrew his support, the Parliament got
dissolved and it was ordered to conduct the
elections. When Rajiv Gandhi came to
Chennai for election campaigning, he was
killed due to the outburst of the suicidal bomb
at Sriperumbadur.
348
EMINENT LEADERS
Abdul Kalam, A.P.J.
Abdul Kalam, who belonged to Tamil Nadu,
th
took over charge as the 12 President of India
on 25.7.2002. He is a research scientist on
atom bomb.
In the Presidential Elections, he obtained
marvelous victory by securing 90% of votes.
S.S.L.C in Ramanathapuram Swarts School.
Then, he joined St.Joseph’s College at Trichy
and completed his graduation, BSc.
Later, he studied aeronautics in the IIT,
Madras. In 1963, he joined the Indian Space
Research organization. Then, in Hyderabad
in 1982, he was elected as the Secretary of
Scientific Research Organization.
At that time, he created a design to
manufacture a rocket with the exclusive
Indian scientific technology. He introduced
the higher technological evolutions in that plan.
Abdul Kalam had secured various National
awards. The following awards were
obtained by him:1.Doctor ByronRai Space award
2.National Design award
3.Madhya Pradesh Government award
4.Om Prakash Bashin award
5.In 1996, the memory of Naidu Ammal
golden medal award
Lakshmi, who contested in the Elections, with
the support of the left communist parties could
secure only 10% of votes.
th
Abdul Kalam was born on 15 October, 1931
in Rameswaram.
His father, A.P. Jainulavudin was a trustee
in the mosque. He had a sailing ship and he
was engaged in the transportation activities
between India and Sri Lanka. His wife’s
name was Asma Ammal.
Till his Vth STD, Abdul Kalam studied in
Rameswaram Samiyar School and continued
his high school education and completed his
6.The science related Modi award and
National award
7.The National award for the talent of
scientific technologies
The Central Government awarded
him,’Padma Bhushan’ in 1981 and,’Padma
Vibhushan’ award in 1990 in appreciation of
his services. In 1997 he was rendered India’s
greatest award of,’Bharat Ratna.’ He
occupied a vital position in the research of
the Atom Bomb explosion at Pokran.
In India many Universities inclusive of
Madurai Kamaraj University honoured him
EMINENT LEADERS
by offering him the, 'Doctor Title'.
Immediately after his collegiate education
was over, Abdul Kalam’s parents wished to
arrange for his marriage.
But, he refused to get married. He replied
saying that, 'Marriage would hinder my goal
of achievements in the field of science'. He
has a deep passion for Tamil Language. He
used to speak as well as write in Tamil. He
has written his life history with the name
of,’Agni Siragugal’ in the form of a book in
Tamil.
349
He entered Parliament for the first time in
1970 as a Rajya Sabha member and was reelected to the House for the fourth time in
1988. Advani was arrested during the
Emergency when he was in Bangalore. He
became the General Secretary of the Janata
Party when it came into being in 1977 but
was soon made minister for information and
broadcasting.
Advani is married to Kamla and has a son
and a daughter.
Annadurai, C.N.
Advani, L.K
Advani is forceful speaker with cold logic,
In Tamil Nadu, the great scholar C. N.
Annadurai, popularly known as "Anna", was
an excellent orator; he invented a new style
in the writing; he was the root cause for the
establishment of the Dravidian movement’s
rule in Tamil Nadu.
he is considered a hardliner who has taken
the BJP to great heights. Born in Hyderabad,
Sind (now Pakistan) on November 8, 1927,
Advani’s entry into
politics
was
accidental. When a
friend interrupted this
teenager’s game of
Tennis at Karachi to
drag him to a RSS
shakha, little did he
know this was to
change his life. He
joined the RSS in 1942 and in 1947 was its
Karachi unit secretary.
He was born to the couple of Natarajan and
th
Bangaru Ammal on 15 September, 1909.
Both Natarajan and Bangaru Ammal were
kind hearted, good mannered and pious. But
they were very poor.
Following the Partiton of the country, Advani
had to leave Pakistan. He helped to organize
the RSS network in Rajasthan, soon after he
joined the Bharatiya Jana Sangh in 1951. In
between his political pursuits Advani
obtained his Law degree from Government
Law college, Mumbai and became a
journalist for some time before he became
the party’s Delhi unit secretary during 195863, vice president during 1965-67 and
president during 1970-72.
He also got through in B.A. Honours (M.A.)
examination. Even after acquiring the degree,
he did not discontinue the habit of reading
books. He read all literatures, histories and
epics. He emerged as a great scholar.
So the duty of bringing up the child Annadurai
was entrusted to his maternal aunt, Rajamani
Ammal. Anna used to call her as,’Thotha.’
After passing out S.S.L.C, he joined the
Pachiappa’s college. When he was studying
in College, he used to participate in debates.
His skill of oratory was seen even at that
time itself.
350
WORLD HISTORY
The disciple of Periyar
Anna’s parents and 'thotha' thought that
Anna must go for good employment. So, he
searched for job vigorously. He got the
teacher’s job in
a middle grade
school near
Parry’s corner.
But Anna, who
had
an
independent
view, could not
continue the job
for a long time.
At that time, his
attention got
diverted towards politics. He participated in
the Justice party meetings and rendered
speeches. The senior leaders of the Justice
party could not render their speeches in Tamil
very well. They used to speak in English only.
Anna used to translate their speeches into
Tamil. The senior leaders used to get amazed
at his excellent translation. His popularity
began to spread the whole of Tamil Nadu.
Anna went to the Conference of the youth
in Tirupur. “Periyar”, E. V. Ramaswamy also
attended the conference. They both met in
that conference only for the first time. Anna
became the disciple of Periyar.
He took charge as the Sub-editor of the
magazine,’Viduthalai,’ which was published
on behalf of the Justice party. The articles
written by Anna in that magazine enhanced
his popularity further. In 1944, in Salem, the
conference of the Justice party took place.
He passed the significant decision in the
conference. The viewpoints of the decision
are as follows:1.
To abandon the titles conferred by
the English people
2.
To stop putting the caste name
behind anyone’s original name
3.
To change the name of the party as,
'Dravidar Kazhagam'.
There was a serious debate on the decision
for 35 hours. At the end, Anna’s decisions
were conceded. The Justice Party was
turned into Dravida Kazhagam. Periyar and
Anna travelled all over Tamil Nadu and
undertook whirl wind propaganda. Large
number of students, who got fascinated by
the speech of Anna, joined Dravida
Kazhagam. The party progressed well.
D.M.K
At this juncture, Periyar made an
announcement that he is going to marry
Maniammai for the acquisition of heir; at that
time age was 72.
Anna and other leaders opposed this
announcement. But Periyar did not withdraw
his decision. On 9.7.1949, the marriage of
Periyar and Maniammai took place.
Following that, important leaders inclusive of
Anna, Periyar’s elder brother’s son E.V.K.
Sampath, Nedunchzian, M. Karunanidhi,
Madhiyazhagan and N.V. Natarajan left the
Dravidar Kazhagam. The birth of DMK
occurred on 17.9.1949.
After that, the progress of the DMK party
was in the massive pace. The dialogues
written by Anna for the film,’Velaikari,’
widened his prestige everywhere. He
became the crowing king in the hearts of the
youngsters.
He conducted several revolts protesting
against, 1. "The thrust of Hindi on Tamilians",
and 2. "To obtain the privileges of the people".
Through these, the DMK emerged as a very
EMINENT LEADERS
351
strong party. The
victories won by the
DMK alarmed the
Congress party.
Became the Chief
Minister
In the elections of 1967,
Anna succeeded in
uniting all the opposition
parties and the setting up
of a united front.
The DMK party defeated
the Congress party which
was in power for 20 years
continuously. Anna
became the Chief Minister.
Annadurai with his Raniammal
When he was in power, Anna performed
several marvelous achievements. He
abolished the name of,'Madras State’, totally
and renamed it as,'Tamil Nadu'. He
conducted the Second World Tamil
Conference in a grand manner in Chennai.
As a first step, he brought his election promise
as true by offering, '2 kilos of rice for one
rupee', both in Chennai and in Coimbatore.
He announced that he would offer Gold
medal for those who performed inter-caste
marriage.
th
On 13 April, 1968 at the invitation of
American Government, he visited that country
and toured all over it. He also proceeded to
countries like Japan and Singapore and
returned to Chennai on 13.5.1968.
Operation
Anna, who was ruling efficiently, became sick.
The doctors examined him and diagnosed that
there was a cancerous growth in his food pipe.
So, Anna was rushed to America for
treatment. There, in Memorial Hospital,
he was operated. After the treatment was
over, he returned to Chennai on 6.11.1968.
Again he became sick and even though
effective treatments were administered on
him, he could not survive and passed away
nd
at mid-night 12.22 on 2 February, 1969.
His body was buried in the Chennai Beach.
There, Kalaingnar had constructed a
beautiful monument.
Family
Anna’s wife was Rani Ammal. They did
not have children. Dr. Parimalam and
Ilangovan are their foster sons.
WORLD HISTORY
352
Dr. Ambedkar
D r.
Bhimrao
R a m j i
Ambedkar, one
of the main
architects
responsible for
drafting of The
Constitution of
India and a
champion of Human rights was born on the
th
14 April 1891. After graduating from
Elfinstone College, Bombay in 1912, he joined
Columbia University, USA where he was
awarded Ph.D. Later he joined the London
School of Economics & obtained a degree
of D.Sc. (Economics) & was called to the
Bar from Gray’s Inn.
On his return to India in 1923, he founded
‘Bahishkrit Hitkarini Sabha’ with the main
objective of spreading education &
improving the economic conditions of the
depressed classes. With the slogan of
‘Educate-Agitate-Organize’, the social
movement led by Dr. Ambedkar aimed at
Annihilation of Caste & the Reconstruction
of Indian Society on the basis of equality of
human beings.
In 1927, he led the march at Mahad,
Maharashtra to establish the rights of the
untouchables to taste water from the Public
Chawdar Lake’, traditionally prohibited to
them. This marked the beginning of anticaste & anti-priest movement. The temple
entry movement launched by Dr. Ambedkar
in 1930 at the Kalaram Temple, Nashik,
Maharashtra is another landmark in the
struggle for human rights & political justice.
Dr. Ambedkar held the view that “Only
political power cannot be a panacea for the
ills of the depressed classes. Their salvation
lies in their social elevation”. As a Member
of the Viceroy’s Executive Council from July
1942 he was instrumental in bringing about
several legislative measures to protect the
rights of labourers & workers.
One of the greatest contributions of Dr.
Ambedkar was in respect of Fundamental
Rights & Directive Principles of State Policy
enshrined in the Constitution of India. The
Fundamental Rights provide for freedom,
equality, and abolition of Untouchability &
remedies to ensure the enforcement of rights.
The Directive Principles enshrine the broad
guiding principles for securing fair distribution
of wealth & better living conditions. On the
th
14 October, 1956, Babasaheb Ambedkar
embraced Buddhism. He continued the
crusade for social revolution until the end of
th
his life on the 6 December 1956. He was
honoured with the highest national honour,
‘Bharat Ratna’ in April 1990 posthumously.
Mahakavi
Subramaniya
Bharathi
Mahakavi Subramaniya Bharathi was born
on 11 December 1882. He died on 11
September 1921. In a relatively short life
span of 39 years, Bharathi left an indelible
EMINENT LEADERS
353
Tamil. He said “among all the languages I
have known, I do not see any of them, as
sweet as Tamil", was his moving tribute to
his mother tongue.
mark as the poet of Tamil nationalism and
Indian freedom.
Bharathi lived during an eventful period of
Indian history. Gandhi, Tilak, Aurbindo and
V.V.S.Aiyar were his contemporaries. He
involved himself with passion in the Indian
freedom struggle. His song ‘Viduthalai,
Viduthalai’ was a clarion call for freedom
from alien rule. He saw a great India.
Bharathi’s mother died in 1887 and two years
later, his father also died. At the age of 11, in
1893 his prowess as a poet was recognized
and he was accorded the title of ‘Bharathi’
at Ettiyapuram. He was a student at Nellai
Hindu School and in 1897 he married
Cellamal. Thereafter, from 1898 to 1902, he
lived in Kasi.
He participated in the 1906 All India
Congress meeting in Calcutta (chaired by
Dadabhai Naoroji) where the demand for
‘Swaraj’ was raised for the first time.
Bharathi supported the demand
wholeheartedly and found himself in the
militant wing of the Indian National Congress
together with Tilak and Aurobindo.
Bharathi worked as a schoolteacher and as
a journal editor at various times in his life.
As a Tamil poet he ranked with Ilanko,
Thiruvalluvar and Kamban. His writings gave
new life to the Tamil language - and to Tamil
national consciousness. He involved himself
actively in the Indian freedom struggle. It is
sometimes said of Bharathi that he was first
an Indian and then a Tamil. Perhaps, it would
be more correct to say that he was a Tamil
and because he was a Tamil he was also an
Indian. For him it was not either or but both
- it was not possible for him to be one without
also being the other.
Bharathi served as Assistant Editor of the
Swadeshamitran in 1904. In April 1907, he
became the editor of the Tamil weekly
‘India’. At the sametime he also edited the
English newspaper ‘Bala Bharatham’. He
participated in the historic Surat Congress in
1907, which saw a sharpening of the divisions
within the Indian National Congress between
the militant wing led by Tilak and Aurobindo
and the ‘moderates’. Subramanya Bharathi
supported Tilak and Aurobindo together with
‘Kapal
Ottiya
Thamilan’
V.O.Chidambarampillai and Kanchi
Varathaachariyar. Tilak openly supported
armed resistance and the Swadeshi
movement.
Bharathi often referred to Tamil as his
‘mother’. At the same time, he was fluent in
many languages including Bengali, Hindi,
Sanskrit, and English and frequently
translated works from other languages into
In 1908, he gave evidence in the case which
had been instituted by the British against
‘Kappal
Ottiya
Thamizhan’,
354
WORLD HISTORY
V.O.Chidambaram Pillai. In the same year,
the proprietor of the ‘India’ was arrested in
Madras. Faced with the prospect of arrest,
Bharathi escaped to Pondicherry which was
under French rule.
(the same District which a hundred years earlier
From there Bharathi edited and published the
‘India’ weekly. He also edited and published
‘Vijaya’, a Tamil daily, 'Bala Bharatha', an
English monthly, and ‘Suryothayam’ a local
weekly of Pondicherry. Under his leadership
the Bala Bharatha Sangam was also started.
The British waylaid and stopped remittances
and letters to the papers. Both ‘India’ and
‘Vijaya’ were banned in British India in 1909.
In 1912, Bharathy published the 'Bhagavat
Gita' in Tamil as well as 'Kannan Paatu',
'Kuyil Paatu' and 'Panjali Sabatham'.
pleadership examination in 1894 and this enabled
him to practise law at the local sub-magistrate’s
After the end of World War I, Bharathi
entered British India near Cuddalore in
November 1918. He was arrested. He was
released after three weeks in custody. These
were years of hardship and poverty.
(Eventually, the General Amnesty Order of
1920 removed all restrictions on his
movement). Bharathy met Mahatma Gandhi
in 1919 and in 1920, Bharathy resumed
editorship of the Swadeshamitran in Madras.
Congress. He participated in the 1907 Surat
Congress together with Subramania Bharati.
He died at the age of 38 on 11th September,
1921.
given birth to Veerapandiya Kattabomman) .
Chidambarampillai was the eldest son of
Ulaganatha Pillai and Paramayi Ammai. His early
education was in Tuticorin. He passed a
court. He then went on to practise at the nearby
port town of Tuticorin.
The partition of Bengal in 1905, the rise of
militancy evidenced by Swadeshi (boycott of
foreign goods) movement, saw Chidambarampillai
taking a direct interest in the political struggle.
These were the years before the arrival of Gandhi
on the Indian political landscape.
Chidambarapillai supported Bal Gangadhar
Tilak and the militant wing of the Indian National
Commerce between Tuticorin and Colombo
was the monopoly of the British India Steam
Navigation Company (BISN) and its Tuticorin
agents, A. & F. Harvey.
Inspired by the Swadeshi movement, V.O.C.
mobilised the support of local merchants, and
launched the first indigenous Indian shipping
enterprise, the Swadeshi Steam Navigation
Company, thus earning for himself the name “Kappalottiya Tamilan”.
The Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company
V.O. Chidambaram
Pillai
"Kappalotiya Tamilan" V.O. Chidambarampillai was born on 5 September 1872 in
Ottapidaram, Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu
was registered on the 12th of November 1906. He
purchased two steamships, S.S. Gallia and S.S.
Lawoe for the company and commenced regular
services between Tuticorin and Colombo against
the opposition of the British traders and the
Imperial Government.
His efforts to widen the base of the
EMINENT LEADERS
355
Swadeshi movement, by mobilising the workers
imprisonment and required to do hard labour.
of the Coral Mills (also managed by A. & F.
Harvey) brought him into increasing conflict with
He was yoked to the oil press like an animal and
made to work it in the cruel hot sun
the British Raj. On 12 March1908, he was arrested
on charges of sedition and for two days,
In prison VOC continued a clandestine
Tirunelveli and Tuticorin witnessed
unprecedented violence, quelled only by the
correspondence, maintaining a stream of
petitions going into legal niceties. When he
stationing of a punitive police force.
stepped out of prison in late December 1912, after
a high court appeal had reduced his prison
The Court imposed a sentence of two life
imprisonments (in effect 40 years). The sentence
was perhaps a reflection of the fear that the British
had for VOC and the need to curtail the rebellion
and secure support of the not follow
C h i d a m b a r a m p i l l a i ’s
footsteps.
In 1911, Tirunelveli
District Collector Ashe was
assasinated by Vanchinathan,
a youth trained by V.V.S.Aiyar
who had at that time had
sought refuge in French
Pondicherry. The British
response was brutal and a
witch hunt followed and the
Swadeshi movement petered
out with many of its activists
languishing in jail.
VOC in prison, was left to fend for
himself. His wife, Meenakshi Ammal, followed
him from the Tirunelveli sub jail to the
Coimbatore and Kannur central jails, where he
spent his term and almost single-handedly
organised his appeals.
Chidambarampillai was not treated as a
‘political prisoner’. The sentence that was
imposed on him was not ‘simple imprisonment’.
He was treated as a convict sentenced to life
sentence, the huge crowds present on his arrest
were conspicuously absent.
VOC was not permitted to remain in his
native Tirunelveli district and he moved to
Chennai with his wife and
two young sons. Having
been convicted for sedition,
he had lost his pleadership
status and he was unable to
earn his livelihood by
practising the law. The
Swadeshi Steam Navigation
Company had collapsed. It
was liquidated in 1911. He
and his family had lost all
their wealth and property in
his legal defence.
After his release in 1912, he completed
his autobiography which he had started
writing in prison. It was in Tamil in a verse
form. He wrote a commentary on Thirukural
and edited the Tamil work of grammar,
Tolkappiam. He authored a few novels in
Tamil.
V.O.C. showed the way for organized
effort and sacrifice. He finished his major
political work by 1908, and died on the 18th
November, 1936.
WORLD HISTORY
356
Selvi Jayalaliatha
Jayalalitha shined as a leading actress in the
film world and was brought to the political
field by MGR. She struggled hard in politics
and was elected as the Chief Minister of
Tamil Nadu.
Though Jayalalitha did not have passion for
the film, she entered into the film industry
due to her family situation. In the beginning,
she acted in Kannada films and her first Tamil
film was’, 'Vennira Aadai', which was
directed by Sridhar and was released in 1965.
At that time itself, she acted with MGR in a
film by name,’ Ayirathil oruvan.’ She paired
with MGR in various films continuously.
She also acted in other languages and with
other leading heros in the film industry. Her
th
100 film,’Thirumangalyam’ was released in
1977. She slowly reduced her acting in films.
Within 16 years, she acted in 112 films.
Her entry into politics
th
She was born on 24 February, 1948. Her
father, Jayaram was the son of the family
Doctor Rangachari of Mysore Maharaja.
Her mother was actress Sandhya. Her
maternal grand father, who lived in Srirangam
initially, migrated to Andhra and Bangalore
later for the purpose of job. Jayalalitha has
a brother by name Jayakumar.
Jayalalitha studied both in Bangalore and
Chennai as her father passed away when
she was 1 ½ years old. She studied up to
Matriculation and got through in that exam
in Church Park convent. When she aimed
for higher education, there was a turning point
in her life which dragged her into the cine
world. Jayalalitha’s maternal aunt was acting
in films and her mother was also in the same
industry.
After completing her cine life, Jayalalitha
joined as a member of the ADMK party in
1982. She stepped forward in her political
life. In the same year, MGR introduced her
as the Party’s propaganda secretary in the
public meeting held at Cuddalore. In 1984,
MGR made her as the Rajya Sabha member
and sent her to the Parliament. He also made
her as the Deputy leader of the State
th
Assembly. On 24 December, 1987 MGR
passed away.
After the demise of MGR, his wife Janaki
took over charge as the Chief Minister of
Tamil Nadu but her rule could not last more
than 24 days. Her Cabinet was dismissed
th
on 28 January, 1988 and the President’s rule
was proclaimed.
In the elections of 1989, the DMK party could
win and capture the rule. Jalalitha became
the opposition party leader and her party
acquired the symbol of two leaves and they
also secured the head quarters of the ADMK
party.
In the elections of 1991, the ADMK party
357
EMINENT LEADERS
won a fabulous victory and she took over
charge as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
th
on 24 June. She remained in the office for
five years. But in the elections of 1996, the
ADMK – Congress alliance was defeated.
Jayalalitha who contested from the Burgur
constituency also was defeated. The DMK
party set up the rule and Karunanidhi became
the Chief Minister.
Cases
After this, several cases were registered
against Jayalalitha and her associate
Sasikala.. In December, 1996 Jayalalitha was
arrested and was kept in prison for 28 days.
rd
Later she was released on 3 January, 1997
on bail.
There were 7 cases against her. Special
courts were set up to enquire these cases.
A corruption case was registered against
Jayalalitha with regard to the purchase of
the TANSI land which belonged to the
Government of Tamil Nadu. In that case, she
was sentenced for 3 years imprisonment.
Her victory in the elections
In the elections of May, 2001 Jayalalitha filed
her nomination in 4 constituencies. As she
was not allowed to contest in more than 2
constituencies, her application was rejected
in 4 constituencies. But in the elections, the
ADMK Alliance won 196 places. The
ADMK party with its single majority set up
the Cabinet. Jayalalitha became the Chief
Minister.
Judgment by the Court
The Supreme Court gave its verdict as her
assuming of office of the Chief Ministership
st
is not valid on 21 September, 2001 as she
was given 3 years imprisonment in the Tansi
case. Following that, Jayalalitha stepped
down from power and O.Pannerselvam was
selected as the Chief Minister.
Eradication of punishment
Jayalalitha appealed against the 3 year
imprisonment rendered in the TANSI Case.
The High Court enquired appeal and set aside
th
the punishment and gave its verdict on 4
December, 2001. Apart from that, she was
also released from the case of the Import of
th
coal on 27 December. So, a situation arose
that there was no legal impediment for
Jayalalitha to become the Chief Minister.
Victory, in the By-elections
Jayalalitha did not want to become the Chief
Minister immediately and so in February,
2002, she contested in the By-elections in
the Andipatti Constituency. She won with the
difference of 41,000 votes.
Following that, the ADMK Assembly MLAs,
selected her as the Chief Minister. Again,
Jayalalitha became the Chief Minister of
nd
Tamil Nadu on 2 March. In the new
Cabinet, Pannerselvam was ranked in the
post next to the Chief Minister. Jayalalitha
lost the 2006 elections and became the leader
of opposition.
Jyoti Basu
West Bengal’s octogenarian Chief Minister
Jyoti Basu was born into a middle class Bengali
family in Calcutta on 8th July 1914. His father
was a Doctor and school and college education
was completed within the city itself. 1935 saw
Basu embarking on a journey to England to qualify
for the ICS.
358
WORLD HISTORY
He was born on July 15,1903 at
Virudhunagar (Virudhupatti) in District of
Ramnad.
Kumaraswami Nadar, the father of Kamaraj
was a petty coconut-shop owner. He died
when Kamaraj was only six. Uncle
Karuppiah Nadar, who was running a small
cloth-shop, helped Kamaraj, his sister
Negammal and mother Sivakami Ammal.
He struck up friendships with Mohan
Kumarmangalam, Bhupesh Gupta, Hiren
Mukheijee, Snehangshu Acharya, Rajni Patel and
P.N. Haksar all of whom were then studying in
London.
By the time Basu left London in 1940, he was
a hardened communist with an abiding hatred for
fascism. He was deputy Chief Minister to Ajoy
Mukrtijee in the late sixties during the Naxalite
Movement and had been Chief Minister since
1977.
Kamaraj K.
A true democrat, a socialist and a product
of the national movement, one who
participated in it, from the age of eighteen,
with his rich and valuable experience, huge,
popularity and tremendous influence, K.
Kamaraj played a leading role in shaping
India's destiny from the passing away of the
first Prime Minister of India Pandit
Jawaharlal Nehru to the Indian National
Congress-spht in 1969.
Kamaraj was first named as Kamakshi,
after the family deity, and the name Kamaraj
was later adopted in preference to the
feminine name Kamakshi. He studied for six
years only. At twelve, he was a shop
assistant in a cloth shop.
Kamaraj was barely fifteen when he heard
of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre (1919). He
was shocked to know the tragedy and this
was the decisive turning point in his life. Two
years later when Kamaraj saw Mahatma
Gandhi at Madurai, he wanted to follow his
path. He became a member of the Indian
National Congress and soon became an
active party volunteer worker.
It is evident from the records that Kamaraj
was content for years to remain a rank and
file Congress volunteer, working hard with
sincerity and seriousness for the cause of
the national movement, unmindful of his
personal comfort or career. Though he did
try for some time with an insurance agency
as a means of his earning, he gave it up after
a few months. Political activity became his
sole pre-occupation.
He was eighteen when he responded to the
EMINENT LEADERS
call of Gandhiji for Non-Cooperation with the
British. He carried on propaganda in the
villages, raised funds for Congress work and
took leading part in organising meetings, first
at Virudhunagar and then in the entire district
of Ramnad.
At twenty, Kamaraj was picked up by S.
Satyamurthy, one of the greatest orators and
a leading figure of the Tamil Nadu Congress
Committee, who was considered to be
Kamarajs political guru.
In April 1930, Kamarai joined the Salt
Satyagraha Movement at Vedaranyam and
was sentenced to two years, In it's first term
in prison, he had been to prison in six times
in British jails. His last imprisonment was in
1942 during the 'Quit India Movement'.
Kamaraj was Secretary of theTamil Nadu
Congress Committee from 1936-40. He was
elected President of the TamiINadu
Congress Committee in February 1940. This
marked in a very real sense a turning point
in the political career of Kam". He held that
post till 1954.
Kamaraj was elected to the Madras
Legislative Assembly in 1937 unopposed. He
359
was elected Chairman of the Virudhunagar
Municipal Council in 1941, while in prison;
and after release he took up the post for one
day only and then resigned. He was again
elected to the Madras Legislative Assembly
of India in 1946. He was also elected to the
Constituent Assembly of India in 1946. He
was in the Working Committee of the
A.I.C.C. from 1947 till the Congress split in
1969, either as a member or as a special
invitee.
He was elected to the Parliament in 1952.
He resigned his seat in the Parliament when
he became the Chief Minister of Tamilnadu
in 1954. He was elected to the Madras
Legislative Assembly in 1954, 1957 and 1962.
He was defeated in Virudhunagar
constituency in the 1967 General Elections,
when the DMK swept the polls.
In January 1969, Kamaraj triumphed in the
Lok Sabha by election from Negercoil.
During the nine years of Kamaraj's. Chief
Ministership, Tamil Nadu came to be known
as one ofhe best administered States in India.
As Chief Minister, Kamaraj dedicated himself
to the spread of education. Rural
electrification was another field where
tremendous achievement was recorded.
New industries were set up with the active
encouragement given by the State
Government and thus Tamil Nadu State
topped other States in social and economic
development.
In 1963, Kamaraj suggested to Nehru that
senior Congress leaders should leave
ministerial posts to take up organisational
work. This suggestion came to be known as
WORLD HISTORY
360
Kalaingnar
Karunanidhi
In Tamil Nadu, Kalaingnar has reached the
pinnacle of glory in the three fields namely
Politics, Art and Literature. He has witnessed
the diamond jubilee celebration with regard
to his age and golden jubilee celebration with
regard to his political life.
Sivakami Ammal, mother
of Kamaraj
'Kamaraj Plan', which was designed primarily
to dispel from the minds of Congressmen the
lure for power and creating in its place a
dedicated attachment to the objectives and
policies of the organisation. The plan was
approved by the Congress Working
Committee early in August 1963, and was
implemented within two months. Itwas
implemented on October 2, 1963. The very
next day, Kamaraj was elected as the
President of the Indian National Congress.
After the death of Jawarharlal Nehru,
Kamaraj played an important role to elect
Lal Bahadur Shastry as next Prime Minister.
On 19-11-1966, again the King Maker used
his wisdom to elect Indira Gandhi as Prime
Minister, following the sudden death of Lal
Bahadur Shastry.
Kamaraj breathed his last on October 2,
1975. In recognition to his great services,
the nation conferered him with the highest
civilian honour, Bharat Ratna, on January 17,
1976, posthumously.
Karunanidhi was born in a village called
Tirukuvalai, 15 miles away from Tiruvarur on
rd
3 June, 1924. His parents were Muthuvel
and Anjugam Ammaiyar. Karunanidhi had
two elder sisters by name Shanmuga
Sundaram and Periyanayaki. Karunanidhi
was the only son in his family.
The applaud of Anna
In 1942, Karunanidhi’s article,'Ilammai -Pali',
was published in the third issue of the
magazine called 'Dravida Nadu', which was
handled by Anna.
This article attracted Anna very much. Anna
who came to Thiruvarur for attending a
festival expressed his desired to see
Karunanidhi in person. Within a few minutes,
Karunanidhi stood before him. Anna thought
that Karunanidhi was a great person but after
seeing that small boy, he was greatly amazed.
Marriage
th
On 13 September, 1944 the marriage of
Karunanidhi took place. The bride’s name
was Padma. Periyar who had witnessed one
of the dramas of Karunanidhi, praised him
and appointed him as the Sub- Editor of the
weekly magazine,’Kudiyarasu,’ run by him.
He attended the public meetings along with
EMINENT LEADERS
361
daughter of Govindasamy who belonged to
the city of Thirumagalam.
Split in the Dravida Kazhagam
th
On 9 July, 1949 Periyar married
Maniyammai. Due to this, the Dravida
th
Kazhagam was split and on 17 September
and under the leadership of Anna, the
Dravida Kazhagam was born.
Karunanidhi shined as one of the important
leaders of Dravida Kazhagam, acquired
fame by writing dialogue for the
film,’Mandirikumari,’ which was produced
by Modern Theatres.
Periyar and conducted public speeches.
His entry into the film world
At this juncture, Karunanidhi acquired a
chance to write the dialogue for the
film,’Rajakumari’, which was produced by
the Kovai Jupiter pictures. Only in this movie,
MGR acted as a hero. Following this,
Karunanidhi obtained more and more cinema
chances from then onwards. He migrated
to Kovai along with his wife Padma and wrote
the dialogue for the film,’Abimanyu.’ But
his name was not brought out in the titles of
the movie.
When Karunanidhi was progressing as a
great writer, an orator in the Dravida
Kazhagam and an excellent film dialogue
writer, his wife Padma left for heavenly
abode leaving behind her husband and her
little child with tears.
The death of his wife affected him very
badly. His relatives consoled him and also
compelled him that atleast for looking after
the child Muthu, he should get remarried.
th
Finally, on 15 September, 1948 Karunanidhi
married Dayalu Ammal. She was the
In 1952, he wrote dialogue for the
film,’Parasakti,’ and reached the pinnacle of
glory. Only it was in this film, Sivaji Ganesan
got introduced to the film world.
In July, 1953 the DMK party conducted the,
'struggles at the three points'. There was a
struggle to change the name of Dalmiapuram
into,’Kallakudi,’ and in this struggle,
Karunanidhi laid down on the railway track.
So, the police men arrested him and he was
given a punishment of 6 months rigorous
imprisonment.
In the film,’Manohara,’ which was released
in 1954, the dialogues written by Karunanidhi
took his fame to the Himalayan peak.
In 1957, the DMK party indulged in
contesting in the Assembly Elections for the
first time. In the Kulithalai constituency,
Karunanidhi contested and won.
In the struggles conducted by the DMK
party, he stood as a hero in the forefront. In
1965, in Tamil Nadu there was an agitation
for the thrusting of Hindi on the Tamilians.
He took active part in the struggle and was
arrested under the National Security Act and
362
WORLD HISTORY
lodged in the Palayamkottai prison.
His mother’s death
The mother of Kalaignar was very much
pleased to witness her son’s achievements
in both the Political and the film fields.
After seeing her son’s greatness and
progression as the leader of the party, with
th
much contentment, she passed away on 17
January, 1963.
Became the Minister
The elections of 1967 brought forth a big
turning point in the Tamil Nadu politics. The
Congress party which was in power for 20
years, stepped down from power and the
DMK party took the reign of governance.
The great leader Anna assumed the office
of the Chief Minister. Kalaignar Karunanidhi
became the Minister of Public Works
Department.
Then, he became the Minister for Transport
also. During his tenure he passed a resolution
stating that the bus service should be under
the hegemony of the Government.
Chief Minister
Within two years of acquiring the power, in
nd
the mid-night of 2 February, 1969 Anna
passed away. The whole of Tamil Nadu got
stunned by this severe and unexpected blow.
A question arose as who should be the next
Chief Minister whether Kalaignar or
Navalar.
Kalaignar Karunanidhi who has proficiency
in writing, in oratory and diplomacy and who
also had obtained the recognition as the
political heir of Anna was acknowledged as
the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu by all the
people.
Karunanidhi with Dayalu Ammal
The Cabinet of Kalaignar took charge of
th
governing the state on 10 February, 1969.
All the party leaders congratulated
Karunanidhi on his becoming the Chief
Minister of Tamil Nadu.
Karunandhi arranged for constructing a
beautiful monument where Anna was buried.
He was also instrumental for the release of
special stamp in the honour of Anna.
1971 Elections
Prime Minister Indira Gandhi decided to
dissolve the Parliament and face the elections
in 1971. Karunanidhi set up an alliance with
Indira Gandhi and also took a bold decision
of dissolving the State Assembly of Tamil
Nadu to conduct the Assembly election along
with the Parliamentary elections.
Both Rajaji and Kamaraj united together and
resisted against Karunanidhi but they were
unable to defeat him in the elections.
The DMK party captured 184 seats, won a
marvelous victory and set up the rule once
th
again. On 15 March, 1971 Karunanidhi
became the Chief Minister for the second
time.
EMINENT LEADERS
The new party of MGR
Then, there arose a difference of opinion
between Karunanidhi and MGR. MGR who
got separated himself from the DMK, started
a new party by name,” Anna DMK.”
Emergency Situation
In 1975, Indira Gandhi proclaimed
the,’Emergency’ situation. Karunanidhi
protested against it.
st
As a result of this, on 31 January, 1976, in
the evening, the DMK Government was
dismissed. M.K. Stalin, the son of
Karunanidhi, Murasoli Maran, the nephew
of Karunanidhi and innumerable party leaders
and workers of the DMK were arrested
under the,'MISA ACT' and were imprisoned.
Karunanidhi had to face enormous problems
during the period of emergency. He
withstood the critical situation with stern will
power and patience.
Opposition party leader
In the Assembly elections which were held
in 1977, MGR captured the rule. Kalaignar
became the Opposition party leader.
During his tenure as the Opposition party
leader, he conducted the Hindi agitation
movement. When he proceeded to show the
black flag to Indira Gandhi, he was arrested.
Following the verdict of the court to
imprison him for 14 days, he was kept
in the Central Jail.
363
between Kalaignar and Indira Gandhi due to
the proclamation of Emergency by the later,
Indira Gandhi wanted to set up an alliance
with Kalaignar in the Parliamentary elections
of 1980. Kalaignar also gave his concurrence
for the alliance by disregarding all the past
events.
In the election, Indira Gandhi obtained
tremendous victory and set up the rule at the
centre again. Out of the 39 Parliamentary
constituencies in Tamil Nadu, 38 places were
won by the Indira Congress and the DMK
allies.
The dissolving of MGR’s Rule
Following this, the Government of MGR was
dissolved and there was an election held for
the State Assembly. In the election, MGR
won and captured the power.
The Cabinet of Janaki Ammal which took
over charge of the governance after the death
of MGR was tumbled down within 24 days
due to the split in the ADMK.
In the Assembly elections which were
conducted in the beginning of 1989, the DMK
party secured remarkable victory and
captured the rule. After 13 years of gap,
Karunanidhi became the Chief Minister (for
the third time) once again. But the then
Alliance with Indira
As the Governments under the
leadership of Moraji Desai and Charan
Singh were dissolved one after the other
in Delhi, Parliamentary elections were
held in January, 1980.
Though the relationship got strained
Karunanidhi with Rajathi Ammal and Kanimozhi
364
WORLD HISTORY
Prime Minister, Chandra Sekar dismissed his
th
Cabinet on 30 January, 1991 without
allowing its continuation for more than two
years.
Then, in Assembly elections which were held
in 1991, the DMK was defeated. ADMK
captured the rule. Jayalalitha became the
Chief Minister. Again in the elections of May,
1996 the DMK party obtained great victory.
Kalaignar became the Chief Minister for the
th
fourth time. At the time when 20 century
st
was over and the 21 century was born, (on
1.1.2000), the 133 feet of Valluvar Statue
which was unfurled by him, secured him the
world renowned fame.
DMK lost the 2001 elections but returned to
power in 2006. Kalaignar Karunanidhi
became the Chief Minister of Tamilnadu for
the fifth time. After the swearing - in
ceremony, he signed the 3 orders to
implement his election promises.
On 3rd June 2006, he installed the statue of
Kannagi, which was removed by the previous
AIADMK government.
His achievements in the
field of arts
Kalaignar who had achieved massive
accomplishments in Politics, had established
his recognition in the film world also.
He wrote story, dialogues for 20 films and
scenario and dialogue for 33 films. His
dialogues in films like, 'Parasakti',
‘Manohara’,
'Manthiri
Kumari',
‘Manamagal,’ ‘Raja Rani’, excel in clarity
and they are appreciated even today. He had
produced 26 films. His simple and beautiful
commentary on,'Thirukural' is very famous.
The explanatory notes about Kural called,
'Kuralovium', written by him has been
translated into Hindi also. He has written his
autobiography in four volumes as books under
the title of, ‘Nenchukku Needhi.’ His
insurmountable services in the field of Art
brought him the title "Kalaignar" by which
he is called by each and every one.
Family
For the couple - Karunanidhi and Dayalu
Ammal, three sons by names M.K. Azhagiri,
M.K. Stalin and M.K. Tamilarasu were born.
They have one daughter by name Selvi.
Rajathi Ammal who served with Karunanidhi
in the field of arts and politics, also married
him and gave birth to a daughter by name
Kanimozhi.
Dr.Manmohan
Singh
I ndia’s fourteenth Prime Minister, Dr.
Manmohan Singh is rightly acclaimed as a
thinker and a scholar. He is well regarded
for his diligence and his academic approach
to work, as well as his accessibility and his
unassuming demeanour.
Manmohan Singh was born on September
26, 1932, in a village in the Punjab province
of undivided India. Dr. Singh completed his
Matriculation examinations from the Punjab
University in 1948. His academic career took
him from Punjab to the University of
Cambridge, UK, where he earned a First
Class Honours degree in Economics in 1957.
EMINENT LEADERS
Dr. Singh followed
this with a D.Phil in
Economics from
Nuffield College at
Oxford University in
1962. His book,
“India’s Export
Trends
and
Prospects for SelfSustained Growth”
[Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1964] was an
early critique of India’s inward-oriented trade
policy.
Dr. Singh’s academic credentials were fine
- tuned by the years he spent on the faculty
of Punjab University and the prestigious Delhi
School of Economics. He had a brief stint at
the UNCTAD Secretariat as well, during
these years. This presaged a subsequent
appointment as Secretary General of the
South Commission in Geneva between 1987
and 1990.
In 1971, Dr. Singh joined the Government of
India as Economic Advisor in the Commerce
Ministry. This was soon followed by his
appointment as Chief Economic Advisor in
the Ministry of Finance in 1972. Among the
many Governmental positions Dr. Singh has
occupied the post of Secretary in the Ministry
of Finance, Deputy Chairman of the Planning
Commission, Governor of the Reserve Bank
of India, Advisor of the Prime Minister; and
Chairman of the University Grants
Commission.
In what was to become the turning point in
the economic history of independent India,
365
Dr. Singh spent five years between 1991 and
1996 as India’s Finance Minister. His role in
ushering in a comprehensive policy of
economic reforms is now recognized
worldwide. In the popular view of those years
in India, that period is inextricably associated
with the persona of Dr. Singh.
Among the many awards and honours
conferred upon Dr. Singh in his public career,
the most prominent are India’s second highest
civilian honour, the Padma Vibhushan (1987);
the Jawaharlal Nehru Birth Centenary
Award of the Indian Science Congress
(1995); the Asia Money Award for Finance
Minister of the Year (1993 and 1994); the
Euro Money Award for Finance Minister of
the Year (1993), the Adam Smith Prize of
the University of Cambridge (1956); and the
Wright’s Prize for Distinguished Performance
at St. John’s College in Cambridge (1955).
Dr. Singh has also been honoured by a
number of other associations including the
Japanese Nihon Keizai Shimbun.
Dr. Singh has represented India at many
international conferences and in several
international organizations. He has led Indian
Delegations to the Commonwealth Heads of
Government Meeting in Cyprus (1993) and
to the World Conference on Human Rights
in Vienna in 1993.
In his political career, Dr. Singh has been a
Member of India’s Upper House of
Parliament (the Rajya Sabha) since 1991,
where he was Leader of the Opposition
between 1998 and 2004.
Dr. Singh and his wife Mrs. Gursharan Kaur
have three daughters.
366
WORLD HISTORY
Narayanan K.R.
Born on February 4,1921, in Uzhavoor village
of Kottayam district, K. R. Narayanan is
the fourth child of an Ayurveda practitioner.
He grew up amidst poverty, walked 16 kms
daily to school, suffered humiliation for failing
to pay fees
but had an
i r o n
determination.
He obtained
a BA (Hon)
f r o m
Kottayam
Intermediate
College and
sought the
Diwan of
Travancdre’s
favour for a job. Disappointed, he began his
career as a college lecturer. He switched
over to journalism as sub-editor in the Hindu,
Madras and then as a reporter in the “Times
of India, Bombay, he had the privilege of
interviewing Mahatma Gandhi.
In 1948, armed with a degree in political
science he went to see Jawaharlal Nehru.
The Prime Minister was convinced of his
credentials and inducted him in the Indian
Foreign Service. Rangoon was his first
posting where he met Ms TintTint, a Burmese
student who had studied at Delhi School of
Social Sciences. She was bowled over by
his erudition and quiet dignity and a year later
she became Mrs. Usha Narayanan.
He was ambassador to Thailand, Turkey and
in 1976 was specially chosen for China.
During his diplomatic days, he combined
diplomacy with scholastic pursuits to deal
with foreign policy matters. He was
appointed as vice-chancellor of JIVU in
1979. His diplomatic acumen was put to test
once again in 1CHO when he was sent as
Ambassador to Washington.
Back home in 1984, he contested as a
Congress candidate from Ottapalam, Kerala
and retained the seat three times. He was
the Minister of State for Planning, Minister
in Foreign office, Science and Technology,
Atomic Energy and Space.
He was elected Vice-President on August
21, 1992. When he was elected as president,
many commentators said that Mahatma
Gandhi’s dream to see a Dalit as the head of
the Indian State had been fulfilled.
Periyar
E.V.Ramaswamy
During the 20
th
century, approximately for
50 years, “Periyar” E.V. Ramaswamy
dominated the socio-policital scenario. He
was called by everyone as,’ Pakutharivu
Pakalavan.’ His life was full of turning points
and it was closely knitted with the Tamil Nadu
Political history.
Parents
Periyar ’s father ’s name was Venkatta
Nayakar. His mother’s name was Chinna
Thayammal. They lived in Erode and they
were struggling for their livelihood. They
worked as labourers.
Venkatta Nayakar was a hard worker. He
drove the vehicle for hire. Then he started a
grocery shop. As days passed on, his
business flourished. He became wealthy and
he was also pious.
EMINENT LEADERS
367
th
Periyar was born to them on 17 September,
1879. He grew up as a pet child in his grand
mother’s house. He married a poor relative
girl. A female child was born to them after
two years but it did not survive. After that,
they did not have children.
In 1911, his father died and he offered major
portion of his properties to his two sons and
the rest of the properties, he donated to the
charities.
Periyar did not waste his time in unwanted
entertainments. He spent his time usefully
by becoming the member of various
organizations. In 1919, he became the leader
of the Erode Corporation. Periyar
renounced his post as the Corporation leader
condemning the Jalian walabag massacre.
leaders regarding the caste based
representation. So, Periyar took a vow of
wiping the congress out of Tamil Nadu and
walked out of the conference.
Joined the Congress
Kudi Arasu
In 1920, he joined the Congress and he was
greatly attracted by the ideologies of Gandhi.
He became the ardent disciple of Gandhi.
Periyar started a weekly magazine in 1925
by name, 'Kudi Arasu', for propagating his
ideals. He wrote articles emphasizing the
views on the abolition of caste system,
widow remarriage and opposition against the
Epics. At this juncture, there was a
formation of a party by name, 'Justice Party',
for the benefit of the non-brahmins. Periyar
supported it. In 1932, Periyar toured all over
the world and he rendered a speech in
England where there was a large gathering
of 50,000 labourers. His wife died in the
year 1933.
Vaikam Hero
In Kerala, there was a law prevailing at that
time, prohibiting the entry of down-trodden
people into some important streets. The
Congress party arranged for agitation
preventing this act. In this movement,
Periyar got involved and he was arrested at
vaikam on 22.4.1924. At the end of the
struggle, the law was made null and void.
The down-trodden people were allowed to
enter the streets. Periyar was released and
he was named as, 'Vaikam hero'.
He left the Congress
But Periyar left the Congress due to his misunderstandings with the senior congress
In 1937, he agitated against the imposing of
Hindi in Tamil Nadu. He was given 2 years
rigorous imprisonment.
“Periyar” title
WORLD HISTORY
368
On 13.11.1938, at Chennai, 'Tamil Nadu
women’s conference’ was held. E.V.R. was
honoured with the title "Periyar," in that
conference.
Dravida Kazhagam
th
Ramachandran,
M.G.
Initially as "M.G.R", M. G.Ramachandran
On 27 August, 1944 the conference for
Justice Party was conducted. Periyar
headed the conference. It was decided to
change its name to,’ Dravida Kazhagam,’ in
that conference. Periyar took charge as the
leader of the Dravidar Kazhagam party.
established his reputation in the cine field and
later on he performed marvelous
achievements in political field also. He also
served as a Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
for 10 years. He was born in Kandi in Sri
th
Lanka on 17 January, 1917. His full name
was M.G. Ramachandran.
Periyar – Maniammai marriage
His father’s name was Gopala Menon; His
mother was Sathyabama. Gopala Menon
served as a magistrate in places like Tiruchur,
Arur and Ernakulam in Tamil Nadu and
Kerala. Then, he went to Sri Lanka and got
appointed as a Principal of a college. At that
time only, MGR was born to him.
Dravida Kazhagam progressed well and
many educated people joined in that party.
Anna was one of the important people among
them. In 1949, Periyar announced that he
need a legal heir for the assets. So he wanted
to marry Manniammai. But Anna and other
senior leaders had reservations about the
marriage. But Periyar went ahead with the
wedding, not minding the objections.
So, Dravida Kazhagam was split in to two
blocs. Anna started a separate party by
name, 'Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam', on
17.9.1949.
Meeting of Anna
Anna met Periyar after he took over charge
as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. Periyar
supported the rule of Anna and the
th
subsequent rule of Karunanidhi also. On 20
December, 1973 he was admitted into the
hospital for treatment of Hernia disease.
Despite effective treatment, he passed away
th
on 24.12.1973. His body was buried on 25
December in the evening at the Periyar
grounds in Chennai, with the guard of honour.
Death of his father
When MGR was 2 ½ years old, his father
passed away. MGR had two elder sisters
by names Kamalakshi and Sumitra and two
elder brothers by names Balakrishnan and
MG. Chakrapani. MGR was born as the fifth
child.
After the passing away of Gopala Menon,
Sathyabama came to Madras along with her
children and settled at Kumbakonam. MGR
was admitted to Anayadi School in
Kumbakonam. His mother was struggling for
her livelihood but at the same time, she
managed to bring them up with love and
affection. At this juncture, his elder sister
Kamalakshi died at the age of 16.
Drama
As they were poverty stricken, MGR could
not continue his education and started acting
EMINENT LEADERS
in dramas.
MGR was so
handsome
with curly
hair and a fair
complexion
and so he
obtained good
character
roles in the
dramas.
‘Sathi
Leelavathi’,
was his first
movie. Later, he acted in small roles in other
films In 1940, he acted as the associate of
M.K. Thiagaraja Bagavathar in the film,
'Ashok Kumar'. Everyone was astonished
to see the wonderful acting of MGR.
Hero
He acted as Hero in,’ Rajakumari,’ the
Jupiter pictures production for the first time.
A girl by name Malathi acted in the role of
heroine as his pair in the film.
In this movie, Balaiah and MGR were
engaged in the sword fight with each other
and this obtained significance in the film
world. Then, in the film called,’ Mohini,’
MGR and Janaki acted as pairs. Later, in
the film, 'Maruda nattu Ilavarasi' in which
Karunanidhi wrote the dialogues, they both
joined as pairs and acted in the film.
Marriage
At this juncture, it is pertinent to look into the
marriage life of MGR. When MGR was
acting in the film,’Veera Jagadish,’ he was
21 years old. At that time only, he got
married. His wife’s name was Bargavi and
she was beautiful and a well behaved girl.
So, his mother used to call her as,
369
'Thangamani'. The marriage life of MGR and
Bargavi did not last for a long time. When
Bargavi went to her native place, Palaghat,
she had a massive heart attack and collapsed.
Before MGR could reach the place, her body
was buried. So, MGR was very much upset
over this sad event.
He developed hatred towards life and lived
like a saint. On seeing the plight of her son,
Sathya Ammaiyar wanted to arrange for a
remarriage for her son. But MGR refused
to remarry. Later, he was not able to deny
her request and so he got married to a girl by
name Sadanandavathi.
His married life with Sadanandavathi was
pleasant but destiny played its role again.
Sadanandavathi became sick and was bedridden. At this time, MGR and Janaki joined
as pair in the film, 'Maruthunattu Ilavarasi'.
MGR got astonished at the appearance of
Janaki as she resembled his first wife
Bargavi.
One day, Janaki went to MGR’s house.
Sadanandavathi liked her very much and
called her as her sister. As Janaki was
without any support, she persuaded MGR to
marry Janaki. The important persons of the
film world also insisted MGR to get married
to Janaki and so MGR and Janaki became
the couple. After marrying MGR, Janaki left
the film world.
His involvement in politics
In the beginning, MGR was much attracted
towards Congress Party. He wore Khadi
dhoti and shirt. In 1952, MGR was introduced
to Aringnar Anna by T.V. Narayanaswamy.
Following this, he merged himself with the
DMK. In the meanwhile, he acted as a hero
in films like,’Mandiri kumari,’ ‘Marmayogi’,
370
WORLD HISTORY
‘Sarvadigari,’ 'Andaman Kaidi,’ ‘
En Thangai,’ ‘Kumari,’ Jenova,’
and was reaching the pinnacle of
glory rapidly.
As the acquaintance between
Karunanidhi and MGR progressed
well, they both became the partners
and launched a film company
called, 'Megala Pictures'. MGR
acted in a film, 'Nam', which was
produced on behalf of this company.
This film was a grand success.
After witnessing her son’s
progression in the films, MGR’s mother
passed away. According to her wish, MGR
purchased the Palace at Lloyds road and
named it as,’ Sathya Illam.’
Turning point
The film,'Malaikallan', which was released
in 1954 became a super hit. In this film,
Banumathi and MGR acted as pairs.
This film brought a turning point in the life of
MGR. He acquired the name as, 'the
emperor of collections', by acting in films
like 'Madurai Veeran' and 'Gulebagavali'.
Political life
MGR, who was rising to the highest step of
the film ladder, obtained great progression in
the political field also. The youth of the DMK
party started liking him very much and he
occupied an important place in their hearts.
In the Assembly elections of 1967, he
contested from the St.Thomas Mount
constituency on behalf of the DMK party.
At that time, the scandalous event of shooting
MGR by M.R. Radha occurred.
M.G.R. with his wife Janaki
(in a film "Mohini)
The bullet which pierced through his neck
was operated and removed. Even while lying
down in the hospital bed, he won a marvelous
victory.
In 1967 elections, the DMK party secured
tremendous victory and assumed the power.
Anna became the Chief Minister.
Separate Party
Both in the film world and in the politics,
Kalaignar Karunanidhi and MGR were thick
and intimate friends.
After Karunanidhi became the Chief
Minister, there was a rift between the two
persons. MGR openly asked for the accounts
of the DMK party’s assets and he started a
separate party by name, 'Anna DMK'.
After he left DMK, MGR acted in a film by
name, 'Ulagum sutrum valiban', and this film
obtained remarkable success than the earlier
films.
In the elections which were held in 1977,
EMINENT LEADERS
371
A D M K
captured the
rule.
MGR
became
the
Chief Minister
of Tamil Nadu.
Tamil Nadu for the third time.
In
the
Parliamentary
Elections of
1980,
the
ADMK party
was defeated
and so the
Cabinet of MGR
in the State of
Tamil Nadu was
M.G.R.'s Mother
dismissed. But
in
the
subsequent elections, his party won a grand
success and MGR took charge of the Chief
Minister once again.
On 23 December, 1987 his health condition
became critical. The doctors treated him
efficiently but he passed in the wee hours on
th
24 December. An epoch in the political and
the film world came to an end. The final
funeral procession of MGR took place on
th
25 December. His body was taken to the
Marina beach and it was buried by raising a
cemetery next to Anna cemetery.
Though he lost his power of speech, with
enormous practices, he was able to talk to
some extent.
Death
rd
Physical illness
In October 1984, he was affected by
Paralytic stroke and was admitted in Apollo
th
hospital. He was taken to America on 5
November and he was operated in the
Brooklyn hospital in New York. His elder
brother’s daughter donated one of her
kidneys to her uncle.
When MGR was in America itself, the
elections were held in Tamil Nadu and
ADMK emerged victoriously and captured
the rule.
MGR who was able to survive crossing over
the critical moments returned to Tamil Nadu
th
th
on 4 February, 1985 and on 10 February,
he took over charge as the Chief Minister of
Singh, V.P
The sixth Prime Minister of India-Visvanath
Pratab Singh does not easily fit into any
political frame. Born on 25th June, 1931, at
Allahabad, in the Dahiya family, he was five
when he was adopted by the Manda family
of the princely state near Allahabad. He
studied at the Boys High School, Allahabad
but his childhood was marred by adoption,
legal hustles and fights over guardianship
rights.
A bright student, Singh graduated in Arts from
Uday Pratap college, Varanasi and obtained
a law degree from Allahabad university.
After his marriage, he graduated in Science
from Ferguson college, Pune in 1961 and
returned to Allahabad to complete his MSc
but politics caught him midway.
372
WORLD HISTORY
Sonia Gandhi
Sonia Gandhi, the wife of Rajeev Gandhi
was born in a Catholic Christian family in
Italy on 9.12.1946. Her father Stephano
Maino was a building contractor. Her
mother’s name is Bavalo Brabidon. Sonia
has two sisters by name Anushka and Natya.
V P Singh was handpicked by Indira Gandhi
and made the Commerce Minister in 1983.
He was later made the Finance Minister by
Rajiv Gandhi which brought him into national
limelight. He proved to be a good
administrator, brought changes and
encouraged open debates. However his
determination to conduct raids on business
houses cost him his portfolio in 1987 and he
was given the defense portfolio instead.
During the same year, V P Singh found
himself expelled from the party and he
founded his own Jan Morcha. In 1988, he
was reelected to the Lok Sabha, became the
convenor of the National , an amalgamation
of political parties. The National Front came
to power and Singh was elected a the Prime
Minister. He sat on the chair for less than a
year but his regime was marred by
controversies. Called messiah of the
backward classes Singh implemented the
Mandal Commission recommendations for
reservations. He received a lot of flak for
the same and was replaced by Chandra
Shekhar, who formed a breakaway group of
the Janata Dal and took Congress support.
Married to Sita Devi, Singh has two sons
In London, Sonia Gandhi and Rajeev Gandhi
studied in the
Columbia
University. At
that time, a love
a f f a i r
blossomed
between the
two
ended
and
it
in
marriage.
Sonia told about
her love affair with Rajeev Gandhi in an
interview to the television and it is as follows:
“In London, when I studied in Cambridge
University, I used to go and eat in a
restaurant. One day, Rajeev Gandhi came
to that restaurant. His majestic appearance
attracted me. I fell in love with him on the
spot.
Later, we used to meet each other. We
decided to get married. Indira Gandhi, the
then Prime Minister of India visited London
EMINENT LEADERS
373
party. In this election, Priyanka, the daughter
of Sonia involved in the campaigning
vigorously.
Priyanka got married. Her husband’s name
is Robert Vadera. Their marriage was an
inter-caste and love marriage and it took
place in Delhi on 18.2.1997.
Priyanka with her husband
Robert Vadera
at that time. I met her in the Indian
Ambassador’s office.
Though Sonia became a full-fledged Indian
citizen after the assassination of her motherin-law, she declined the offer of Congress
presidentship made to her on the assassination
of her husband. Later she took over the
I went and talked to her with great fear and
shivering. But she conversed with me in a
kind manner. At your age, I also loved a
person. (Feroz Gandhi) Only after that, my
fear got vanished away.” – In this manner
Sonia expressed about her love affair with
Rajeev Gandhi.
Priyanka
For the couple, Rajeev and Sonia the first
president ship of congress and worked hard
for its victory in the Lok saba Election held
in the month of May 2004. She was elected
for the post of Prime Minister ship by the
congress MPs. But she rejected the offer in
the last moment and allowed Dr. Manmohan
Singh to be chosen for the post.
Subramaniam. C
male child (Rahul) was born in 1970. Two
Freedom fighter, social worker, politician
years later, she delivered a female baby and
and administrator, C. Subramaniam in his long
they named it as Priyanka. Sonia is well
varied career has adorned several high
versed in several languages like Hindi,
offices with distinction. The highest State
English, Italy, French, Spanish and Russian.
award, Bharat Ratna,
The death of Rajeev affected Sonia very
was conferred on him
badly. For a long time, she kept herself aloof
in 1998.
by not participating in the Public functions.
Born on January 30,
In the Parliamentary elections which were
1910 at Pollachi in the
held in September, October months of 1999,
District of coimbatore
though the Congress Party could not win the
Tamil Nadu), he did
majority, it served as a strong opposition
his B.A., B.L. from
374
WORLD HISTORY
the Madras University. During the freedom
struggle he was imprisoned more than once.
He practised as a lawyer in Coimbatore for
some time while presiding over the district
Congress committee. He became a member
of the Constituent Assembly and later of the
Madras legislative Assembly. For ten years
from I952 he was minister in the state
handling various departments including Law,
Education and Finance.
In 1962 he became member of the Lok
Sabha and was re-elected in 1971. As a union
minister he presided over several ministries
including Steel, Mines and Heavy
Engineering; Food ind Agriculture;
Community Development; Planning; Science
Technology; Finance and Defense. He was
Governor of Maharashtra during 1990-93,
Vajpayee
Parliamentarian, Poet, Journalist and social
worker. Atal Bihari Vajpayee is gifted with
extra ordinary oratorical powers which
peppered with wit and honour.
Born on Christian day, December 25, 1924
at Gwalior, his father Krishna Bihari Vajpee
was a school teacher in the erstwhile princely
state. His entry into politics came as a student
when he came into contact the RSS leaders
and became a swayam sevak. Jailed during
the 'Quit India'
Movement, he was
closely associated
with Dr. Shyama
Prasad Mookerjeer,
who founded the
Janasang.
Jawaharlal
Nehru's prophecy that
Vajpayee would one day hold a high office
came true in 1996 when he became Prime
Minister but had to resign after 13 days as
he could not get the confidence of the Lok
Sabha. His clean public image helped the
BJP and within two years, he was back in
the same chair at the head of a multi -party
coalition. He was the prime Minister of India
upto 2004.
As a bachelor, Vajpayee has often publicly
expressed his desire to "divorce" politics,
which does not seem so easy.
375
DIGNATARIES FROM
DIFFERENT FIELDS
S. Abhaya Kumar
S. Abhaya Kumar, is the founder and Joint
Managing Director of Shasun Chemicals
and Drugs Limited. He founded Shasun in
1976,barely within a year of graduating from
the
Madras
University with a
Bachelor's Degree
in
Chemical
Engineering. With
about five lakhs of
saving from his
parents and a small
loan
from
a
Government body,
he setup a plant in
the outskirts of
Chennai city for the manufacture of Analgin
(Analgesic - drug). It required dare,
conviction, vision and determination for a
young graduate to invest almost all the
family's wealth on one venture.
Sundarbai Shasun Jain College for Women
at T. Nagar from the academic year 2005.
His interest in sports vary from Riding
horses, flying and Rowing. He has also
obtained private pilot Licence.
Dr. A. Abdul Bari
Dr. A. Abdul Bari is a top Gem merchant
in Singapore. He is the
younger brother of Dr.
A. Ayoob and Treasurer
of the "World Tamil
Cultural Association".
He wrote many books
on Gems and literature. He toured all over
the world several times.
Today Shasun is more than 260 crore in
size and one of the fastest growing
pharmaceutical companies in India, with a
focus on APIs, intermediates, excipients,
contract research and manufacturing and
has also taken it first step into biotechnology.
It has two US FDA approved plants and has
won accolades for its safety and environment
practices. It has a relationship with some
of the biggest pharmaceutical companies in
the world and now become a formidable
force to be reckoned with in the Indian
pharmaceutical landscape.
Abhaya Kumar started Shri Shankarlal
Aditanar Si. Pa.
Si .Pa.Aditanar
was responsible for
establishing the distinguished Tamil News
th
Paper, 'Daily Thanthi'. He was born on 27
September, 1905 in Tirunelveli district.
His father Sivanthi Adithar was a famous
lawyer. His mother was Kanagam Ammal.
He completed his school education in Sri
Vaikundam and continued his higher education
in St.Joseph College, Trichy and obtained
376
He toiled hard for the growth of the news
paper. The sales of this newspaper
increased to a great extent. It reached the
first place among the Tamil News papers in
1957.
He was also attracted towards Politics next
to journalism. He was elected for the Tamil
Nadu Assembly in 1957. He participated in
the Hindi agitation movement and was
imprisoned for 91 days.
M.A. Degree.
In 1928, he went to London and acquired
the Bar-at-Law degree. He went to
Singapore and married Govindammal in 1933
who was the daughter of an aristocrat, O.
Ramasamy Nadar.
He became a famous lawyer in Singapore
and he had the ambition of starting a
magazine right from his childhood. He
returned to India in 1942 and started two
magazines in Tamil by names, ''Madurai
st
Murasu'' and ''Tamilan''. Then on 1
November, he started a magazine called,
"Thanthi" in Madurai. Later, he started,
"Dina Thanthi” in Chennai and, "Dinath
Thoothu" in Trichy. In course of time, both
the daily papers were named as, ''Dina
Thanthi''.
''Dina Thanthi'' had set up the historical
record in the Tamil journalist world. Even
the down trodden people also became well
versed with the world news due to his Tamil
newspaper edition. He offered the news
items in simple language and so, a situation
arose as to even the people from the lower
strata also started discussing the political
world.
In 1967, he associated himself with the DMK
party and became the Speaker of the
Assembly in the DMK Cabinet. In 1969, he
became the Minister of Co-operation in the
Cabinet headed by the honorable CM, Mr.
Karunanidhi. Then, he became the Minister
for Agriculture.
th
He died on 24 May, 1981. He expressed
his desire to become the Journalist even in
his next birth when he gave an interview to
a magazine few days before his death.
Ambani Dhirubhai
Hirachand
Reliance Industries Ltd. is India’s largest
private sector company FY ending March
1998 income of Rs 13404 Crore(US $ 3.5
Billion), net profit of Rs 1653 Crore (US $
418 Millon) and assets of Rs 24,388 Crore
(US $ 6.2 Billoin). Reliance’s businesses
cover textiles, polymers, fibre intermediates,
chemicals, oil and gas.
Dhirubhai was born in Chonvad, a village
in Sourashtra Gujarat, when he was 17, he
DIGNATARIES FROM DIFFERENT FIELD
went to Aden
(now part of
Yemen) and
worked for the
Shel oil refinery.
He returned to
Bombay in 1958
and started his
first company,
R e l i a n c e
Commercial Corporation, a commodity
trading and export house. In 1966, as a first
step in Reliance’s highly successful practice
of backward integration, he started the textile
mill in Naroda, Ahmedabad. In 1975 a
technical team from world bank certified that
the RIL textile plant was excellent by
developed country standards. In 1977, the
company went public.
Dhirubhai has steered the Reliance group
to its current status of a textiles-petroleumpetrochemicals-power conglomerate. He is
credited with a number of financial
innovations in the Indian capital market.
Today, the Reliance group has the largest
family of shareholders in the world.
With an investment slate of over Rs
36000 crore (US$ 9 Billion), in petroleum
refining, petrochemicals, power generation,
telecommunication services, and a port
terminal in a two year time frame, Dhirubhai
would be steering the Reliance group to the
top league of companies globally.
Dhirubhai was married to a Kokilaben and
lived in Bombay. He had two son, Mukesh,
who is Vice Chairman and Managing
377
Di r e c t o r, a n d A n i l , t h e M a n a g i n g
Director of Reliance Industries. He had
two daughters Dipti Salgaocar, who lives
in Goa, and Nina Kothari, who resides in
Chennai.
Adi Kumanan
A di Kumanan was the Editor of the
renowned Tamil
Daily, "Malaysia
Nanban”
in
Malaysia. He was
born in 1950 in
Malaysia.
He had his basic
and
collegiate
education in Tamil
Nadu. He is the
degree holder from
Annamalai University.
He has been serving in the field of journalism
for the past of 30 years. He joined as the
Reporter at the age of twenty in the Tamil
News paper by name,”Tamil Malar.” Then
he rose as the Sub- Editor and Assistant
Editor in due course of time. He started
weekly magazine,” Vanambadi” and became
successful.
He has been working as the Editor of the
News Paper,”Malaysian Nanban” and it is
successful to a great extent. He has been
showing great interest in the Malaysian Tamil
literature and culture. He is doing yeomen
service for the growth of the society through
his enchanting articles.
Though he is a revolutionary writer, the
Malaysian Government honoured him for two
times by way of rendering him awards.
378
WORLD HISTORY
Aishwarya Rai
Former "Miss World" and now top cine
actress Aishwarya Rai was born on
November 1, 1973 in Mangalore,
Karnataka. She is the second child of Rai
family comprising dad Krishnaraj, Mum
Vrinda, and elder
brother Aditya
who is three
years older to
her.
Aishwarya did
her schooling
from Arya Vidya
Mandir
in
Mumbai. She
studied her 11th
standard in Mumbai's Jain Hind College, but
it was from DG Rupard College in the
same city that she completed her 12th
standard.
Aishwarya, who had failed in "Miss India"
contest in 1994, could win the "Miss World"
crown in the same year. The Miss World
contest was held in Sun city in South Africa.
She acted in many films in several
langauges. In Tamil she has acted in
"Iruvar" (1997), "Jeans" (1998) and
"Kandukonden Kandukonden" (2000)
"Devadas" and "Taal" are her Super Hit films
in Hindi.
She was listed in "Time" magazine as one
of 100 most influential people in the world.
Over 17,000 websites are dedicated to her.
Prof.K.P. Aravanan
A son of poor family, he started his
schooling, in a small village of Kadalankudi,
Tiruvarur Dist. and achieved the top post in
educational line as
Vi c e - c h a n c e l l o r,
Manonmaniam
sundaranar University,
Thirunelveli by his hard
work.
He penned nearly
sixty books to his credit.
Among them five books
won state awards. He received great awards
endowed by Thinathanthi group, Sri
Annamalai Chettiyar and recently by
Government of Tamilnadu. His date of birth
is 9-8-1941.
He was invited by His Excellency
Leopold Sedar Seghor, the Head of the State,
Senegal to undertake research in the
University of Dakar. He did his research
from 1977 to 1982 and published his works
under different titles : 1. Dravidians and
Africans, 2. Anthroplogical studies 3. The
Serpent Cult, 4. The tree worship, 5 His
studies and others.
He headed the department of Tamil in
Loyola College, Chennai and the
Pondicherry University. He introduced
Innovative and social oriented courses in
Chennai, Pondicherry and Thirunelveli.
Among them are Functional Tamil in Part I
Tamil, post graduate, comunity colleges,
Mano colleges and different courses to the
jail inmates.
379
Dr. A. Ayoob
Balasubramaniam, S.P.
Dr. Ayoob, the secretary of World Tamil
S.P. Balasubramaniam has sung nearly
Cultural Association, was born on 13.5.1949
35,000 songs so far
and has performed an
exceptional task.
at
Needur
near
Mayiladuthurai. In
1969
He was born in the
State of Andhra
th
Pradesh on 6 June,
1946. His father was
a musician.
His
friends used to
encourage him to sing
in films even when he was doing his
graduation in the college.
he went to
Bangkok, Thailand
and became Gem
Merchant. Now he
established
his
Business Houses all
over the world.
He is the Editor of "Namma Oor Seythi", a
monthly magazine, being published from
Mayiladuthurai . He has written a book on
Gems entitled as "Navamanigal" which is
also translated into English, Hindi and
Sinhalese.
Dr. Ayoob has plunged himself in Educational
activities.
With the
approval of
Bharathidasan University, he is running
colleges of Hotel Managements, Nursing,
Teaching and Journalism.
Equally he is interested in social activities.
He has laid down roads and built schools in
his native place. He undertook tours to
America and Europe several times.
He became famous when he sung the song
for Gemini Ganesan for the film, "Santhi
Nilayam". Seeing the melody in his voice,
MGR gave an opportunity for him to sing in
his film, "Adimai Penn." This opportunity
dragged him to great heights in the film world.
Thereafter, he obtained continuous
opportunities to sing film songs. He sang in
five languages viz. Tamil, Telugu, Hindi,
Malayalam and Kannada. He is the only
person who has sung 35,000 film songs in
India.
He has acquired the National award for the
Best Singer for 6 times. He was awarded
the degree of, "Doctor'' by the Telugu
University. Apart from composing music for
a few films, he also acted in certain films
which turned out to be hit.
380
WORLD HISTORY
Balachandar, K.
K .Balachandar
boldly expressed his
revolutionary themes through his films. He
was the man who was responsible for
introducing the Super Star Rajni Kanth to
the film world. He paved the way for the
fame of the great artists like Kamal Hasan
and Sridevi to reach the peak. He was able
to offer distinct pictures and acquired the title,
"Iyakunar Sikaram".
He was born in Tanjore district on 9.7.1930.
While he was in School itself, he took interest
in conducting dramas. Then he joined in
Annamalai University and obtained the BSc.
Degree.
He got a job in Accountant General office in
Chennai in the year 1950. When he was
working in the office, he wrote dialogues and
stories for the two famous dramas
namely,”Mezhuguvarthi” and “Major
Chandrakanth”.
Then he got the opportunity to write the
dialogues for the film,”Deivathai”. Following
that, he wrote dialogues for two renowned
films namely,”Server Sundaram” and
“Poojaiku Vanda Malar.”
He became the director of a movie by name,
"Nanal", which was produced by A.K. Velan.
Then he directed many films like, "Major
Chandrakanth", "Bama vijayam" and
"Tamarai nenjam". In 1969, the film, "Iru
Kodugal" which was directed by him was a
grand success. It made Balanchandar as
one of the top Directors of the film world.
Then he directed many films like, "Kaviya
Thalaivi", "Punnagai", and "Velli vizha".
He directed one of his most hit films
"Arangetram". It was a revolutionary movie.
"Aval oru thodar kadai" was also a box office
hit movie. He rose to great heights in the
year 1975 through his movie, "Aboorva
Ragangal". He introduced the super star
Rajni Kanth in that movie.
He directed the movie, "Maro Charitra" in
Telugu which was produced by Arangannal.
It ran for 2 years in Bangalore. Many of his
films obtained the award from the Central
Government. Some of his films got the State
Government award.
The State Government of Tamil Nadu
conferred him the title of,” Kalai Mamani”
in 1974 and the Central Government offered
him the title,”Padmasri” in the year 1987.
Bharathiraja
Bharathiraja was the Director who was
competent to spread the rural fragrance into
the Tamil film world. He was born in Theni
district in 1944. He saw the movie,”
Parasakti” at the age of 8 and got inspired
by the wonderful action of Mr. Sivaji
Ganesan.
th
He got through the 10 Standard examination
and was appointed as the Inspector for
Prevention of Malaria. His monthly earnings
was only Rs.75/-. He got acquainted with
Ilaya Raja, Baskar
and Gangai Amaran
and he conducted
some dramas along
with them.
Later, he decided to
join the film world
and resigned his job.
He moved to
Chennai and toiled
hard for obtaining a
chance to act in movies. He got the
opportunity to work as the Assistant Director
to Mr. Puttanna.
Then he narrated his own story to a producer
and thus the film,” Padinaru Vayadinile” was
released. It created a great turning point in
the history of the Tamil film industry. It was
a box office hit movie and it won many
awards.
Then he ventured to produce his own film,
"Pudiya Varpugal" and this film was also a
grand success. In 1981, he directed a movie
by name, "Alaigal oyvadillai" and it received
a tremendous welcome from the audience.
In 1985, he made Sivaji Ganesan to act in his
film, "Mudal Mariyadai" and it also won many
prizes. His movie, "Vedam Pudithu" attained
the status of excellent regional language film.
Barathiraja was an expert director in Tamil
films and also he is famous in the whole of
India. He was responsible for introducing
competent artists and Directors for the Tamil
film industry. The industry owes a lot to his
contributions.
381
Elected to the Lok Sabha in 1984, he was
the joint secretary of the AICC (I) in 1985
and Union Deputy Minister the same year.
In 1986 he became a Minister of State and
handled various
departments. Reelected in 1989 and
1991
he
was
Minister of, State for
Commerce in the
Narasimha Rao
ministry.
Political changes
on the eve of the
1996
election
brought him to the fold of Tamil Maanila
Congress headed by the Veteran G.K.
Moopanar. TMC was part of the United
Front which formed the government in which
Chidambaram was the Finance Minister.
He always impressed the House with
clarity of vision and knowledge of the subject
he was handling.
In the last parliament election held in
May 2004. The Indira Congress has formed
on coalation Govt. headed by Dr. Man
Mohan Singh as the Prime Minister.
Chidambaram has been taken in as the
Finance Minister in the Ministry.
Born in Tamil Nadu on September 16,1945
he took his Law and MBA degrees from
the Madras University. He was a successful
senior lawyer in the High Court of Madras.
He is married to Nalini and has a son.
P. Chidambaram
Dayanidhi Maran
Educated at Madras, Harvard and
Cambridge, Mass (USA) universities
Chidambaram had a meteoric rise in politics.
Beginning as President of the Youth
Congress in Tamil Nadu in 1973, he rose to
be Finance Minister in the United Front
government in 1996.
Dayanidhi Maran, the younger son of
Murasoli Maran, is the Union Cabinet
Minister
for
communications and
Information Technology. In a short period,
WORLD HISTORY
382
he makes many
wonders
in
the
communication field.
Now telephones and
cell phones are very
common in India and
easily reachable to
common man.
Born on 5th December 1966 and got his
B.A., (Economics) degree at Loyola College,
Chennai. He associated with print media and
info technology for many years. He
contributed many articles to "Kunguman",
a Tamil weekly and many other Magazines.
century in the
match
agaisnt
England at the
Melbourne Cricket
Ground.
1931 : Adjudged
Wisden Crikceter of
the Year. 1936 - 48 :
Captains
the
Australian cricket team. 1949 : Plays his
last innings in first-class cricket. Also
conferred with knighthood. 1950 : Publishes
his memoirs, “Farewell to Cricket’’; ‘The
Art of Cricket’, comes out in 1958.
2000 : Voted one of the five Wisden
Cricketers of the century. February 25,
2001 : Dies in Adelaide, Australia.
Diego Maradona
He married to priya and has one son and
one daughter.
Donald Bradman
(1908 - 2001)
A
s a boy barely out of his teens, Donald
George Bradman (famously called “The
Don”) had promised his father that he would
someday play at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
The boy lived upto his promise and, indeed,
much more. On his very first tour of England,
in 1930, he made 334 runs in one innings. By
the time he retired, Bradman had to his name
6,996 runs in international Test matches (at
an average of 99.94).
Bio-data of Bradman
August 27,1908 : Born in Cootamandr, New
South Wales, Austrlia. November 30, 1928
: Makes his test debut against England, at
Brishane. January 3, 1929 : Scores his first
Considered
the Pele of Argentina Diego
Maradona is one of the most talented and
controversial players to ever grace the game.
Known for his technique and magical left
foot, Maradona is best remembered for
helping Argentina win the 1986 World Cup.
The tournament is also famous for two of
his most memorable goals. Apart from the
infamous “Hand of God”, the quarter -finals
against England also witnessed a classic
Maradona act, in which he outwitted seven
English players to score what is regarded as
one of the best goals in World Cup history.
Some Important dates in Maradona’s life
October 30, 1960 : Born in Villa Fiorito,
Buenos Aires, Argentina. February 27, 1977
: Makes his international debut for Argentina
against Hungury. 1993 : Named the Best
383
Argentine Football ever. 1994 : Banned for
failing a drug test during the World Cup.
1995 : Receives the Golden Ball for his
achievements. October 30, 1997 : Retires
from professional football.
philanthropist who offered in large amounts
for social services. The Deemed University
of Sathyabama engineering college bears a
testimony for the unparallel contribution of
Jeppiar in the field of education.
Jeppiar
Kalanidhi Maran
Jeppiar carried out wonderful achievements
in the field of education not only in Tamil
Nadu but also in the
whole of India. He
is a great person who
had
executed
m a r v e l o u s
accomplishments
through his persistent
hard work and insight
which only a Government could perform.
Kalanidhi Maran was born on 24.7.1965.
He was the eldest son of Murasoli Maran
and Mallika. Right from his younger days
Kalainidhi Maran. evinced interest in the field
of Television. He studied in Loyola College
and got his bachelor's
degree in commerce.
Then he went to
America for further
studies and secured
M.B.A.
He established the Sathyabama Engineering
College to impart excellent technical skills to
the student community in the year 1987. It
has grown into a Deemed University today.
He had uplifted this engineering college to
the world standard. A number of foreign
students also are benefited through this
college. The students acquire excellent
expertise in the concerned fields. They are
offered
tremendous
employment
opportunities before they could complete their
education.
On returning from
America, Kalainidhi Maran took in charge
of the weekly magazine 'Kungumam'. He
has also started "Poomalai", a video magazine
to cater to the needs of and taste of the
Tamilians. He contemplarted to launch a
private T.V. Channel keeping in view of the
varied and multiple interests of the larger
public. Thus born the famous Sun T.V. in
April 1993.
Jeppiar was born in a poor family and rose
to heights only through his hard work. His
father was Jesu Adimai and mother was Pani
Malar. He occupied key posts in the Tamil
Nadu Assembly during the rule of MGR. He
also produced 7 films and the technicians who
worked with him are famous in Direction and
technical fields today. He is also a great
Kalainidhi Maran's sheer determinations,
dedication and endeavor for over one year
has brought name and fame to Sun T.V.,
which is now on the top rank in telecasting
Tamil programmes all over the world.
Following the success in Tamil Channel, he
has started 'Udaya', a channel in Kannada,
'Gemini' in Telugu' and 'Surya' in Malayalam
and thereby covered all the four languages
of South India. He is aiming to extend Sun
384
WORLD HISTORY
T.V. network in Hindi and Bengali also
and to step in the coverage of North India.
His amazing success has brought him many
honours including the award as the Best
Young Entrepreneur in the year 1999 in India.
Internationally too, his services are
recognised and at Lisbon, in Portugal he was
honoured and awarded for his meritorious
service in the field.
Navasakthi. He compiled the world news
and won laurels from the Editor.
'Kalki' R.
Krishnamoorthy
After sometime, he became the Sub-Editor
of Ananda vikatan. As the writing talents of
Mr. Kalki and the administrative capacities
of Mr. Vasan put together, the sales of the
Vikatan magazine grew in thousands.
Kalki was prominent as an uncrowned
th
emperor among the Tamil writers in the 20
century. He was a pioneer to initiate the
historical stories in Tamil.
His original name was R. Krishnamoorthy.
th
He was born on 9 September, 1899 in the
district of Mayiladuthurai. After completing
his high school
education, he continued
his higher studies in
National College at
Trichy.
In 1921, when Gandhiji
launched the Non cooperation movement, he
rendered his speech at a public meeting
against the ban. He was arrested and
imprisoned for three months. He wrote his
first novel by name” Vimala” while he was
in prison. This novel was later published in a
magazine by name,” Sudantharan”.
He also exhibited his talents by writing
pamphlets for the Congress party. He joined
as the Sub-Editor of the magazine,
At this juncture, he got married to Rukmani.
In February 1928, Kalki started writing
humorous articles in a famous magazine
called Anananda Vikadan. Later, he joined
as the Sub-Editor in the magazine,
Vimosanam, run by Rajaji.
“Kalvanin Kathali” was the first serial story
written by Kalki in Ananda Vikatan and his
popularity spread throughout the state. In
1940, when Kalki wanted to participate in
the Non co-operation movement, Vasan was
unhappy over it. So, Kalki left Ananda
vikatan and took part in the independence
movement.
Later he decided to start a magazine by
name, "Kalki" along with his close friend
T.Sadasivam. This magazine reached the
pinnacle of glory very soon. The historical
stories like, "Parthiban Kanavu" and,
"Sivakamiyin Sabatham" written by Kalki
won unparallel fame for him. “Alai oasai”,
which was written by Kalki based on the
background of independence movement,
among the social novels also became very
famous.
“Ponniyin Selvan” appeared as a serial
historical story in the magazine for three
years from 1952 to 1955.
385
Nearly for three decades, Kalki was able to
rule over the Tamil literature world through
his enchanting writing. He passed away at
th
the age of 55 on 5 December, 1954.
Kamalhaasan considered as Sivaji
Ganesan's heir in cinema world. Undoubtedly
he is one of the best actors in the world.
Kamalhaasan
Kamal's brother Saruhaasan and the
later's daughter Suhaasini are also actors and
National Award Winners.
Kamalhaasan has come along way since
his debut into the world of films at the age of
six. Born in Paramakkudi near Madauri in
the year of 1954 to advocate Srinivasan Rajalakshmi. He was introudced in AVM's
"Kalathoor Kannamma" as a child artiste.
The child star was rediscovered as an
adult by K. Balachander, in whose films
Kamalhaasan featured regularly in the 70's,
hitting the big time with the director's Telugu
film "Maro Charithra". The film's equally
successful Hindi remake "Ek Duja Ke Liye"
marked Haasan's debut into Hindi cinema
and during the
ensuing years he
treated aduiences
to a variety of
roles, played out
with
skilful
versatility in four
d i f f e r e n t
languages.
The dexterous
dancer in "Salangai Oli" ("Sagara
Sangamam" in Telugu) or the dwarf in
"Appoorva Sahodararagal", Kamal threw
himself heart and soul into his work, a trait
which continues in his work as director producer to day.
Kamal got many awards including the
prestigeous award of "Padmasri". He is also
national award winner for his films "Moonram
Pirai" and "Sagara Sangamam".
Kiran Bedi
“After all these years, I am a realist, a
pragmatist,” says
India’s first woman
police officer.
Born in 1949, Bedi
was first Asian
Games Women’s
Tennis champion .
In 1972 she joined the police force, creating
a record as she did so, as she became India’s
first woman police services officer. Quite
naturally, attention started getting focused on
her, attention which never totally got diverted
as Bedi’s strong personality asserted itself
ever and ever again, winning admiration and
ill feeling alike and often picking up
controversies as well. But Bedi surged on.
Single-handedly, she chased away swordyielding demonstrators, armed only with a
baton circa. Alone she fought fiercely against
bootlegging aid drug addiction.
Uncompromising, she craned away
offending vehicles breaking traffic rules. A
386
WORLD HISTORY
tussle with lawyers then hit the headlines and
when the controversy died down, she hit the
news yet again when she turned around a
posting, which was far from meritorious and
brought around reforms in Tihar Jail which
are now famous.
Lata Mangeshkar
T he
“Melody Queen” of India Lata
mangeshkar was born as the eldest child of
a Gujarati mother and a Marati Father on
th
28 September
1929. Lata’s
father was a
Pandit. Pandit
D i n a n a t h
Mangeshkar; a
classical singer
cum actor who
ran a drama
troupe.
The
death of her
father in 1942
was a virtual end to the happy days of Lata’s
childhood, leaving the burden of bringing up
a family on the 13 year old girl. Within 8 days
of her father’s death, a steely Lata made
her acting debut in the Marathi film “Pahili
Mangalagaur” and went on to act in as many
as eight films in Hindi and Marathi, over the
next six years, while she simultaneously
struggled to establish herself as a playback
singer. Her debut song in the film “Aap Ki
Seva Mein” in 1947 went unnoticed, but two
years later Lata shot to fame with her
rendition of the songs in the three films
“Andaaz”, “Barsaat” and “Mahal”. And
thence forth there was no stopping of the
Melody Queen. The worlds most recorded
singer with over 30, 000 songs to her credit,
has a place in Guinness Book of World
Records. The She was conferred of
“Bharath Ratna”, award apart from
“Dadasaheb Palke Award" for life time
contribution to Indian Cinema. She is
unmarried.
Meyyappa Chettiar A.V.
A.V. Meyyappa Chettiar accomplished
innumerable achievements in the film world
and introduced number of artists to the Tamil
film world.
He was affectionately called as AVM by
every one and he belonged to Karaikudi. He
was helping his father to run his shop while
he was doing his high school education.
In 1928, the AV and sons organization
obtained the rights for releasing the music
records of Kittappa and Sundarambal in 5
southern districts.
At that time, he wanted to enter into the film
world and decided to produce short films
with fewer songs. In the beginning he faced
failures. He started a studio of his own by
name, "Pragathi" in 1940 and released a
Telegu film by name, "Bhoo Kailash" which
ran for 25 weeks. Then he directed a film
by name, "Sabapathy".
Later, he wanted to produce a movie of
mythology and released, "Sri Valli". It was
released in 1945 and it was welcomed very
well by the audience.
Subsequently he started the AVM studio in
Devakottai. The film,” Nam Iruvar” based
387
He
was
a
member of the
Thanjavur Distirict
Congress Committe,
and of the Tamil
Nadu State Congress
Committee. He was
elected to the Rajya
Sabha in 1977 and
again in 1983 and 1989. He was appointed
AICC general secretary in 1983. He was a
trusted lieutenant of K. Kamaraj.
o n
the social theme, which was produced by him,
won the greatest fame.
Gandhiji applauded the film,'Ram Rajya'
which was dubbed from Hindi to Tamil by
A.V.M. In the meantime, he acquired 10
acres of land near Vadapalani, in Madras and
constructed the famous AVM Studio with
Projection theatre and Laboratory facilities.
The film,” Vazhkai” was produced in this
studio as the first one. This film was a grand
success which was released in 1949. He
also produced the famous film, "Parasakti"
with partnership of "National Pictures"
Perumal and Sivaji Ganesan was introduced
to the film world.
AVM was a very successful producer and
his achievements are unparallel in the annals
of the Tamil film history.
G.K. MOOPANAR
A traditional congressman from the fifties;
G. Karuppia Moopanar is an agriculturist and
owns coconut groves and similar rich farm
lands.
A crucial moment in his political life came
in 1996 when Prime Minister and Congress
President P. V. Narasimha Rao forced the
Tamil Nadu PCC to enter into an alliance
with the AIADMK for the Lok Sabha and
state assembly elections in 1996. A large
section of congressmen led by him was
opposed to it and finally broke away from
the Congress and formed a new party, called
Tamil Maanila Congress, which in alliance
with the ruling DMK, made a clean sweep
at the polls. Ironically the combination fared
badly in the 1998 poll.
Born in August 1931 he passed his SSLC
examinatory and married K. Kasturi. He has
one son and one daughter.
His son G.K. Vasan is holding the post
of minister in Cabinet rank in the Ministry
of Dr. Man Mohan Singh.
Dr. Montri Ilyas
Dr. M. Ilyas of Chidambaram is a
successful Gem merchant at Bangkok, the
capital of Thailand. He got is B.Sc. Degree
at the Annamalai University and secured
388
WORLD HISTORY
M.B.A. and Ph.D. in the American
University.
He
widely
travelled all over
the world several
times. He is the
president
of
"Thailand Tamil
C u l t u r e
Association". He is
awarded title of honour as "Gem of India"
and "Living Seethakkadi" for his Philonthropic
activities.
Liston to claim the world heavy weight
championship, held in Miami, U.S.; Changes
his name from Cassius Marcellus Clay to
Muhammad Ali.
He has released a book entitled "Islamic
Literatures in Tamil".
Murasoli Maran
Extremely interested and involved in
social activities, he contributed a lot for the
development of Tamil and the welfare of
Tamil writers.
Muhammad Ali
O ne
of the greatest boxers ever,
Muhammad Ali’s bout with the sport began
at the age of 12. Winning national
Championships while still at high school, he
went on to claim the gold in the light heavy
weight category at the 1960 Olympics in
Rome. The same year he began his
professional career. The World
Championship honour came four years later.
Ali successfully defended the title 19 times!
He was also the first boxer to win the world
heavy weight title thrice.
Milestones of Muhmmad Ali’s life:
January 17,1942 : Born in Luisville,
Kentucky, U.S.
1964: Defeats defending champion Sonny
1967 - 71 : Suspended from the sport for
refusal to join the U.S. Army during the
Vietnam War.
1974 : Defeats reigning champion, George
Forman, to regain the world heavyweight
title.
1975 : Defeats Joe Frazier in a fiercely
fought contest. 1981 : Announces retirement.
Like several others in Tamil Nadu, Maran
too has been associated with the film industry
before getting involved in high politics. He
has written dialogues and screen plays for
more than 20 films, like his uncle, M.
Karunanidhi, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu,
besides directing two films.
Maran was born in
1939 at Thirukuvalai in
Thanjavur district.
He participated in
the anti-Hindi agitation
of 1965 and was
arrested. He was
detained under MISA
in 1975, when Mrs.
Indira Gandhi clamped
the Emergency.
He was a member of the Lok Sabha in
1967-70,1971-77 and of the Rajya Sabha
from 1977 to 1995. He was minister for
Urban Development in 1989 in the V.P. Singh
ministry, and was a minister in the United
Front government in 1996-97. Close to the
389
DMK Chief M. Karunanidhi, he acted as his
eyes and ears.
was born on 9th Nov. 1940, at Kanchipuram.
'Nalli' is his family traditional name.
He held the post of cabinet minister
holding the portfolio of Industry and
commerce in Vajpayee ministry. He passed
away on 23rd Nov. 2003.
Nalli Silk Textile was established as early
as in 1928 by his grand father Nalli
Chinnasamy Chettiar. He was ably assisted
by his son Nalli
Narayanaswamy
Chettiar who died in
1956.
After the
completion of school
curriculam his father's
death compelled
Nalli Kuppuswamy
Chettiar to take up the reigns of the
administration of the business. Nalli strained
his never to enrich the business legacy left
by his grandfather and father. Now Nalli
Silk House has grown up from its small
building of 2000 sq.ft. near panagal park at
T. Nagar to 3000 sq.ft. mega three storeyed
business building in the area.
V. MURALI
V. Murali is an elected Central Council
Member of the Institute of Chartered
Accountants of India, New Delhi for the
period 2004 to 2007 which is setup under an
Act of Parliament. He
was the Chairman of the
Southern
Idnia.
REgional Council ofhte
Institute of Chartered
Accoutants.
A bachelor of
Commerce
from
Vivekananda College, Chairman. he was a
rank holder of Madras University.
His practising as a Chartered Accountant
for hte past two decades and presently he is
the Senior Partner of the firm M/s.Victor
Grace & Co. He is one of hte leading and
well connected auditors of Chennai and a
prominent social worker, speaker par
excellence both in English and Tamil.
Nalli Kuppuswamy
Chettiar
When we think of silk, the name that
flashes on everyones mind is 'Nalli'. The man
who made this indeleble stamp on silk textile
industry is Nalli Kuppasamy Chettiar. He
Nalli Kuppuswamy Chettiar who is
always preoccupied in attending various
programmes and function amidst the V.I.P's
and dignitaries, is used to liberally mingle with
his staff as one among them while at work
in the shop. Such is the respect and regard
Nalli Kuppuswamy Chettiar holds for his
business and workers.
Nalli Kuppuswamy Chettiar's unit is
established in Chennai, Trichy, Madurai,
Coimbatore and Trinelveli in Tamil Nadu. It
is also extended in Delhi, Mumbai,
Bangalore in India. Nalli Kuppuswamy
Chettiar has also opened his branches abroad
which includes America, Canada and
Singapore.
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WORLD HISTORY
He wrote 10 books on Industry. His book
'How to improve the business" written in
Tamil has received attention of the many and
translated into English, Hindi, Telugu and
Marathi.
In appreciation of his best service in the
field of silk business, he has been awarded
Doctorate. Nalli Kuppuswamy Chettiar is
very fond in divinity, art and culture and
literature and he is liberally donating for its
cause and promotion.
Recently "India To-day" has made a
survey of the Man of achievement and
selected Nalli Kuppuswamy Chettiar and
awarded the title 'Sigaram'. Nalli
Kuppuswamy Chettiar has really scaled the
greatest heights of name and fame befitting
the honour of 'Sigaram' bestowed upon him.
N.R. Narayanamurthy
N.R. Naryanamurthy, the chairman and
managing director of
Infosys Technologies
has pulled off the
incredible achievement
of starting a company
with a meagre capital of
Rs 5000/- in 1982 and
carrying it to a point
where it is one of the
stock performing companies today.
Infosys was started with a desire to create
India's first professionally owned software
company. Starting from humble beginnings,
it recorded a turnover of Rs 260.36 crore in
fiscal 1998 along with a profit after tax of
Rs 60.35 crore. When went public in 1993, it
offered stock at Rs 95. Today its share price
rules at around Rs 1800.
The man behind the company has had a
chequered background. Having completed a
post-graduate degree from IIT, Kanpur he
went on to work as head of the computer
centre at IIM, Ahmedabad. This was
followed by a brief stint in Paris where he
worked for SESA before his return to India.
Back to the country, he gained experience
at Patni Computer Systems before founding
Infosys, which today is a breathtaking
software powerhouse, sprawling over
160,000 square feet of built up facilities, in
the vicinity Bangalore and employing around
2,600 people. Probably some of the best
software talents available in India can be
found here.
Naushad
Nausad Ali is considered as the father
of Indian film music.
Naushad, at the age of 80, has completed
60 magnificant
years
of
contribution to
Hindi film music;
a contribution
which has been
all the more
beautiful
because
the
composer has concerned himself with quality
rather than quantity, never letting his standard
drop for the sake of numbers. Yet the graph
of his career has shown innumerable hits
during the past six decades, each one as high
in quality as the last. Naushad has written
the musical score for 74 films (Of them 64
Hindi) and he has also tried his composing
hand at three TV serials viz. "The Sword of
Tipu Sultan", "Akbar, The Great", and
"Sargam".
391
Naushad started his career around 1938
as a piano player in Sohrab Modi's Minerva
Movietone Company. Sixty years down the
line three of his films have touched the
diamond jubilee mark (Rattan, Baiju Bawra,
Mughal-e-Azam), seven have touched the
golden jubilee mark and there have been 25
silver jubilee hits to his name.
In 1982 he was bestowed upon the
"Dadasaheb Phalke Award". He was also
awarded "Padma Bhushan" in 1992.
Nathan, S.R.
Though Singapore is a small country, it is
the most developed country like Japan and
America. It is known for its cleanliness and
best hygiene. To tell it in a nutshell, Singapore
is described as a small America.
We have to take great pride in learning
about the election of a Tamilian as the
President of Singapore which has a good
th
reputation. On 18 August, 1999 S.R. Nathan
was elected as the President of Singapore
without any competition!
His ancestors settled at Singapore from
rd
Tamil Nadu. S.R. Nathan was born on 3
July, 1924 to the Tamil parents.
He went for job even before he could
complete his studies. Then, he acquired the
degree in Social Science from the University
at Singapore. He served as the officer in the
Government for sometime. In 1966, he took
over charge as the Joint Secretary in the
external affairs Ministry. Apart from holding
important posts, he also took charge of the
Chairman’s post in Multi National
Organizations.
Nathan was one among many persons
who was responsible for creating the
S.R. Nathan with his wife
Corporation for the growth of the Indians at
Singapore.
In April 1988, Nathan took charge as the
ambassador for Singapore in Malaysia. In
July 1990, he was appointed as the American
ambassador.
He became the President of Singapore
th
on 18 June, 1999. He received many
awards and prizes for his exhibition of
capabilities and bravery.
Nathan married a Bengali girl by name
Urmila. They have two children and they
lead a happy married life.
He spoke four languages when he
assumed office of the President and
fascinated the minds of the people.
M.B. Nirmal
M.B.Nirmal, is a renowned personality
in Tamil Nadu who is doing yeoman
service for the society by launching a
popular organization
by name”Exnora”.
He was born on 10th
October, 1943 in a small
town, Kunrathur on the
outskirts of Chennai.
His father’s name was
Basu and his mother’s name was
Saraswathi. Both were journalists.
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WORLD HISTORY
He obtained the Degrees in commerce
and Law and held various high posts in
Indian Overseas Bank. He had great
passion towards serving the society and
so he took voluntary retirement from his
Bank. He started an organization by
name,”Exonora”in 1989. The Services he
undertook for the sake of the society
earned for him an International fame.
He is a great writer and an orator. The
International Federation of all the Tamil
associations in America has offered him
the title as the “Best Tamilian.”
The name of his wife is Doctor.
Vijayalakshmi. His son Manoj and his
daughter Anitha are serving as Computer
Engineers in USA.
Padmini
"Travancore Sistes" - the name that
enthralled the hearts of the millions of the
Tamilnadu. Of the three
sisters who constituted
the title 'Tranvancore
Sisters', the world of Tamil
Cinema crowned Padmini
as it's Queen.
Lalitha, Padmini and
Ragini, the Tranvancore
sisters, hail from the
Travancore Royal family.
Lalitha, Padmini and
Ragini, were born in the
years 1932, 1934 and 1938
respectively for the
parentage of Thangappan
and
Saraswathi
Ammal. All the three
of them are trained
dancers.
The great dance
mastero
Ravi
Shankar, when he was
called to Chennai
once, had an occasion
to see these sisters. Impressed with their
personalities and performance, he gave a
chance to Lalitha and Padmini to dance in
this Hindi movie "Kalpana", a film meant to
highlighting dance.
A.V. Meiyappa Chettiar moved the sisters
to act in his movie "Vedhala Ulagam". But,
the sisters were initially hesitating to act in
films. However, the sisters dance was found
a place in the movie "Vedhala Ulagam"
released in the year 1948.
Thereafter, Travancore Sister's dance
had a place in all most all the Tamil films for
about 3 years.
The "Tranvancore Sisters" Padimini, Lalitha
and Ragini
393
The Travancore Sisters entry into the
acting part of the film world started in
Pakshiraja's Malayalam movie 'Prasanna' in
which Lalitha and Padmini took the lead
roles. This was followed by a Tamil film
"Ezhaipadum Paadu" directed by the
photography genius K. Ramnoth in which
Lalitha and Padmini acted. Subsequently they
acted in the Tamil film "Kanchana". For the
first time N.S.Krishnan paired Padmini and
Sivaji Ganesan in his film "Panam", a picture
Sivaji acted as hero subsequent to his first
movie "Parasakthi". Sivaji - Padmini duo
created a sensation and uproar amongst
the film audience of Tamil Nadu. Together,
Padmini and Sivaji acted in several
successful moveies under various banners.
Joker" in Hindi besides some other Hindi
films in other banners.
In the films "Ethirparathathu" released
in the year 1954 and "Managaiyar Thilagam"
in 1955, Padmini scalled the heights of
action with Sivaji Ganesan.
After the demise of her husband,
Padmini spent her time in America by
running dance schools and teaching dance
to the Indian Children there. Whenever time
permits, she visited Chennai. In one such
visit, her presence in Chennai was made use
of to act in a movie "Poove Poochchudavaa".
"Bhagyavathi", "Pudhyal", "Raja Rani",
"Uthamaputhiran", "Thangappadumai",
"Deivappiravi", "Punarjanmam", are some of
the noteworthy films of Padmini acted with
Sivaji Ganesan.
The evergreen dual dance of Padmini
and Vijayathimala in the Gemini's mahomath
movie "Vanjikottai Valiban" is the landmark
of dance in the Tamil film history.
In this movie Gemini Ganesan cast with
Padmini. She also acted with M.G.R. in few
movies and one of the noteworthy movies is
"Madurai Veeran".
The dance performance of Padmini in
the movie "Thirvarutselvar" is uncommon
and a feather to her cap.
Padmini also acted in Rajkapoor's "Jis
Deshme Ganga Beti Hai" and "Meranaam
Padmini was married to Dr.
Ramachandran on 25th May 1961. After
marriage Padmini settled at America with
her husband. Although Padmini decided
earlier not to act after marriage, due to
incessant request of her fans and producers,
she came down to Chennai and acted in
films like "Thillana Mohanammal", "Vietnam
Veedu" and "Irumalargal". Of these, "Thillana
Mohanammal" turned out to be an epic in
the celluloid. Padmini again went to America
and lived with her husband. But in 1981, Dr.
Ramachandran unexpectedly died on
account of heart attack. This couple's only
son is Prem Kumar.
Padmini desired to spend her last days
in Chennai and accordingly she came down
to Chennai in 2006 and spent rest of her life.
Padmini passed away on 24.09.2006 at
Chennai due to heart attack. She left in lurch
millions of her fans, with throbbing hearts of
sorrow.
Padmini, an actress mingled with beauty,
acting calibre and dancing skill has secured
a supreme state in the Tamil Film industry
and stamped herself as an actress
unsurpassed. The void caused due to her
death is too difficult to fill up. The legacy
left by her is a matter of concern to every
actress to emulate.
Padmini's other sisters Lalitha and Ragini
left to abode much earlier to her.
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WORLD HISTORY
Prathap C Reddy
Chairman of the Apollo Hospitals Group,
Dr. Prathap C Reddy, was born on February
5,1933 in an agricultural family of village
Aragonda, Andhra Pradesh. After
completing his MBBS, FIC& FCCS, he
specialised as a cardiologist.
Dr Reddy was driven by a deep urge to
create
worldclass
medical infrastructure
in India and make it
affordable to a large
section of Indian
populace. At 37, this
cardiologist, began a
movement
which
changed the direction of
the Indian healthcare
industry.
He established three major hospitals in
India at Chennai, Hyderabad and Delhi with
16 more on the anvil including upcoming
projects in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Dubai,
Muscat and Bhutan.
After concluding his
school career at the
age of 16, he went to
Hong Kong and
engaged in Gem
business. During this
period he made a
private study and
obtained
B.B.A.
degree.
He is a multilingual personality including
Japanese. He travelled allover the World and
participated in the important international
conferences on Gems.
Rajinikanth
Rajnikanth was born on December 12, in
the year 1949 in Karnataka. He was the
fourth Child to his parents Rambai and
Ramoji Rao Gaekwad. His original name
was Shivaji Rao Gaekwad. He lost his mother
at the age of five. He had his schooling at
Dr Reddy's contribution to the healthcare
sector is enormous. He was awarded the
Padma Bhushan in 1991, the Sir Neel Ratan
Sarkar Award for medical excellence in
1998.
Married to Sucharitha, the couple has
four daughters. None of the children has
followed his medical profession but are
Managing Directors of the hospitals at
Hyderabad, and Madras.
Dr. A. Rafiudeen
Dr. A. Rafiudeen is a world famous
Gem merchant and the president of World
Tamil Cultural Association. He was born on
4.3.1956 at Needur near Mayiladuthurai.
the Acharya Patasala in Bangalore and then
at the Vivekananda Balaksangh, a unit of
the Ramakrishna Mission. His mother tongue
is Marathi, though he has not done any movie
in it.
Before starting his career in the film
industry, he had to take up all sorts of jobs.
He served as a bus conductor for Karnataka
state transport corporation in Bangalore. It
was during this time that he nutured his acting
interests of performing in various stage plays.
The evergreen unique actor and superstor
of Tamil Cinema, Rajinikanth was introduced
by the renowned director, K. Balachandar
in the movie "Aboorva Ragangal" (1975) in
a small role.
Rajnikanth's entry may have been humble,
in an insignificant role but the succes he
achieved in a very short span was
unimaginable. Some of his best films are
"Mullum Malarum", "Arilirunthu
Arpathuvarai", "Moondru Mugam", "Batcha",
"Muthu", "Padayappa", "Annamalai" and
"Chandramuki".
In the early 80s, Rajinikanth made a
foray into Bollywood with "Andha Kanoon".
But Rajinikant could not concentrate on Hindi
films because he was already with South
Indian films.
Rajinikanth became a trendsetter recently
with his "Muthu" and its songs becoming a
rage in Japan. His "Padayappa" was running
to packed houses in the UK and USA.
395
Sachin Tendulkar
A
rguably the greatest batsman in
cricketing history, Sachin Tendulkar is a class
apart. Ever since his debut at the tender age
of 16, Tendulkar has shown a hunger for runs
that remains unsatisfied. The most number
of runs in oneday cricket,
the first to
score over 50
centuries at
t
h
e
international
level, most
number of oneday hundres,
maximum
number of Man of the Match awards, - his
list of records is endless. A fluid stroke-play,
confident drives and perfect timing is the
secret of his success. A bowler’s nightmare,
he can play every shot in the book with
unmatched brilliance. With hardly a couple
of records left to be broken, Tendulkar is
second to none on the cricket pitch.
Important events in Tendulkar’s life: April
24, 1973 : Born in Mumbai, India.
November 15, 1989 : Makes his
international debut against Pakistan in
Karachi.
August 14, 1990 : Scores his first Test
hundred. 1992 : Makes his World Cup debut.
Rajini acted about 150 films in Tamil,
Telugu,Kannada and Hindi. He has acted one
English film too. ("Blood Stone")
September 9, 1994 :Scores his first
century in one-day cricket against Autralia
in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Married to Latha, an English literature
graduate in 1981, Rajini has two daughters.
Latha herself a versatile singer, now runs a
school called "The Ashram".
1997 : Named Widen Cricket of the year.
March 31, 2001 : Becomes the frist
batsman to score 10,000 runs in one-day
cricket.
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WORLD HISTORY
2003 : Captures the record for the most
number of runs at the World Cup.
January 2, 2003 : Scores his 32nd Test
Century to the with Australia’s Steve Waugh
as the second highest Test century - maker
after Sunil Gavaskar of India.
T. Santhanakrishnan
We are aware that there are certain
persons who have the hobby of collecting
coins and stamps of world countries. Here
is a person who has
massively collected over
50,000
gramophone
records issued since 1912.
This
amazing
achievement is made by
one T.Santhanakrishnan.
He was born in Village
called Thiruninravoor near Chennai. His
father T.N. Thiruvengadam was a
postmaster. He is a graduate of the
University of Madras and held the post of
esteem in Government as the Joint Secretary
in the department of Tamil Development and
culture.
As per as Tamil film records are
concerned he has almost covered from the
first Tamil Talkie "Kalidas" released in the
year 1931 to the film CD's issued till date.
His collections includes Tamil, Telugu,
Malayalam, Kannada, Hindi and a few other
Indian languages besides international
records. His total collection of songs exceeds
3,00,000, covering film songs, classicals, folk
instrumentals and many more aspects of
music.
Another noteworthy fact of his collections
is the special records which contains
speeches of great leaders like Mahatma
Gandhi, Nehru, Mothilal Nehru, Stalin,
Churchil, Hitler, Mussolini, Kennedy etc.
Records depicting the original
announcements of world war, blasting of
Atom Bomb on Hiroshima and many more
surprising aspects of sound and music.
His aim is to create a Musical Archieve by
forming a trust. All his family members
particularly his wife Ms. Babay is lending
effective support in the endeavour.
Satyajit Ray
S
atyajit Ray, one of India's greatest film
directors, was . trained nomici.. and became
a scriptoriter and
commercial
artist
before he turned to
movies.
While
illustrating a children's
book, he made the story
into a film, "Pather
Panchali" (1955), which
won a Cannes Film Festival prize. The
international acclaim and success allowed
Ray to make Aparajito (1957) and Apur
Sansar (1959).
Notable films: 'Devi' 1960; 'Charulatha' 1964;
'Ashani Sangeeth' 1973
Sivaji Ganesan
S
ivaji Ganesan was a dazzling actor not
only in India but throughout the world. He
st
was born on 1 October, 1928 at Villupuram
in Tamil Nadu. His father was cinnaya
Manrayar and mother was Rajamani
Ammal. His father took deep interest in
freedom movement and was a lover of
Gandhi and his
principles.
Sivaji Ganesan
rd
studied upto 3
Standard and his
family moved to
Trichy. He was
asked to join an
iron-smithy shop.
He had a deep
passion for dramas
at that time and used to see dramas. At the
age of 10, he joined a drama troupe and got
trained very well.
In 1946, he acted in a drama at Chennai
and the leaders like Periyar and Anna got
astonished at his acting talent. Periyar named
him as, "Sivaji Ganesan".
Later he acted in a movie by name,
"Parasakti" as hero and earned a good
reputation. His next famous movie was,
"Manohara" and it was responsible for
depicting him as a marvelous actor. He was
well known for delivering lengthy dialogues.
In the year 1959, he acted in a movie by
name, "Veerapandia Kattabomman" and it
won him the award for the Best actor at the
Asian African film festival. The films which
were directed by Bhimsingh like,
"Bagapirivinai", "Padikatha Methai", and
"Palum Pazhamum" also earned him a
marvelous victory. In the film,"Navarathri",
he acted in 9 characters and amazed
everyone with his excellent acting.
"Thiruvilaiyadal" was a big hit and it was
a master piece for Sivaji Ganesan. The
subsequent movies like, "Thillana Mohambal"
and "Kappalotiya Tamizhan" were also box
397
office hit movies.
His own
production,"Pudiya Paravai" was equivalent
to an English film.
He also acted in, "Mudal Mariyadai"
which was directed by Director, Bharathiraja.
It was also a grand success.
He got married to Kamala before he
entered into the film world. He had two sons
and two daughters.
He had contributed his exceptional
endowment to the film industry and his name
will ever be cherished in all our memories.
Recently a statue has been erected for
Sivaji Ganesan, in a gale function at Chennai
in the sea-shore.
Sivanthi Adityan
Dr. Pa.Sivanthi Adityan excels as an
unparallel emperor of the Tamil News paper
world. He also raised the prestige of India in
the whole world in the sports field.
On, 24.09.1936, he was born as second
son of late Si.Pa. Aditanar. He studied in
the Presidency College at Chennai and
obtained BA degree in 1958. In 1959, he
took responsibility as the Director of "Daily
Thanthi".
After undergoing rigorous training, he
acquired this responsibility from his father.
He underwent training in all most all the fields
of the News paper. He was sent to
Tirunelveli to run a Newspaper himself. He
started a daily News Paper called,”Malai
Murasu” which proved to be a great success.
At the time when he took over the
responsibility as the Director of Daily Thanthi,
398
WORLD HISTORY
He also executed various religious
services and one of them is the renovation
of the Viswanathar temple at Thenkasi.
Steffi Graf
O ne of the greatest women tennis
it was published from three places namely
Chennai, Trichy and Madurai. Now it has
been published from 14 places.
In 1962, he started the weekly magazine
by name "Rani". Followed by its success,
he started a monthly magazine by name,
"Rani Muthu" in January, 1968.
He was a good athlete even at the young
age. He has been doing yeoman service in
the field of sports. He went as the leader of
the Indian team to Bangkok in 1978 for the
Asian Games. India could win 11 gold
medals, 11 silver medals and 6 brass medals.
He was elected as the leader of the Indian
Olympic board consecutively for two times.
He was rendered the "Olympic award"
for his exemplary services in the sports field
in 1987.
He also contributed his services for the
growth of Education in Tamil Nadu. He has
established many colleges including a Ladies
college, and a Teacher’s training college. He
is occupying a key position in various Senates
of the universities.
players ever, Steffi Graf stormed onto the
world stage by winning all the four grand
slam events in 1988. That year she also won
a gold medal at
the
Seoul
Olympics. She
was a total of
107 singles
titles to her
credit of which
22 are grand
slam titles.
Known for her
powerful serve and an even more powerful
forehand, she was nicknamed “Fraulein
Forehand”. She retired from Professional
tennis in 1999, a few months after winning
her sixt French Open title.
Biodata of Steffi Graf
June 14, 1969, Born in Mannhein,
Germany. 1982 : Turns a professional tennis
player. 1987 : Wins her first grand slam
title by defeating Martina Navratilova at the
French Open. 1988 : Wins all the four grand
slam titles and olympic gold earning the
Golden Grand Slam. 1999 : Retires from
professional tennis. October 22, 2001 :
Marries Andre Agassi.
Subramaniam K.
In the Tamil film world, even in the beginning
phase, Director.K. Subramaniam introduced
revolutionary themes and attained fame. He
also introduced the
famous artists like
M.K. Thiagaraja
Bagavathar, M.S.
Subbalakshmi and
T.R. Rajakumari.
He was born in
Tanjore in 1904. He
acquired the Degree
of Law and became
a Lawyer. He took interest in the film world
and got trained in the field of direction. He
directed his first film, "Pavalakodi" in 1934.
He produced the best film,"Thiyaga Boomi"
written by Kalki which was based on the
independence struggle. The British
Government banned the movie. He was a
famous producer and produced films
like,"Sevasadanam", "Thiyaga Bhoomi"
"Vanitha" and "Geetha Gandhi".
He was a pioneer in the Tamil film world.
He passed away in 1971.
Shiv Nadar
Moving to Delhi from Tamil Nadu in
1968, Shiv Nadar worked as an engineer
with DCM Ltd. Keen on starting on his
own he made six of his colleagues to join
him to launch a firm making office
products like copiers. Into the vacuum
399
created by IBM
quitting India, HCL
stepped in to the
supply
of
computers and by
1982, HCL came
out with its first
computer.
Now over 80%
of HCL’s revenues are from computers
and
office
equipment.
While
concentrating on growth at home, HCL
has also been spreading its reach overseas.
In February 1997, TIME magazine wrote:
“The world has caught up with Nadar’s
vision of a networked future, and the
results are shaking up enterprises,
economies and government around the
world”.
Now, Shiv Nadar is one of the richest
Indians in the world.
Shobana Ramesh
Shobana Ramesh famous dancer of
Tamilnadu, is the daughter of Vedanarayanan
I.A.S., (Rtd)
Shobana's maiden
dance performance was
held in Tanjore at the age
of Eight. At that time
Vedanarayanan was the
collector of Tanjore.
She is a great admirer
of Mahakavi Bharathi.
Now, she is performing dances with
Barathi's songs in a unique way. The dance
programme called "Bharathanjali to
Bharathi" was held not only in India but also
allover the world.
400
WORLD HISTORY
Subbulakshmi, M.S.
M. S. Subbulakshmi has reached the
pinnacle of glory in the field of Carnatic
th
music. She was born on 16 March, 1916
at Madurai. Her
m o t h e r ,
Shanmugavadivu
was an expert in
playing
the
m u s i c a l
instrument,
veena.
Her
f a t h e r
Subramania Aiyer was a famous lawyer in
Madurai. He had also deep passion for
music.
Her mother determined to train her in Music
as she found her voice very melodious.
After completing preliminary training in
music, she further learnt from K.S.
Narayanaswamy, a Music expert.
Her first music record was released when
she was ten years old. She conducted her
first public music concert at the age of 14 in
Madurai. From that time onwards, her fame
got spread to many parts of Tamilnadu.
Director K. Subramaniam, who heard of her
musical talents, made her to act in his film
"Sevasadanam". Then, she acted in a film
by name "Sakuntalai", which was produced
by T.Sadasivam. Later, Mr. Sadasivam
wanted to marry her and enhance her
prestige by making the whole world to
recognize her expertise in music. Their
th
marriage took place on 10 July, 1940 in
Chennai.
Then, she acted in popular films like,
“Savithri”and "Meera". The songs sung by
her in those films brought her nation wide
fame.
M.S. Subbulakshmi was the first person to
conduct Music concerts in foreign countries.
She conducted her first Music performance
in Edinborough Music festival. Then, she
traveled the European countries and Arab
countries and rendered Music concerts.
In 1966, she delivered a Music Concert at
the UN Assembly and she acquired excellent
fame through that programme. She was
awarded the honour of Doctorate by three
universities. In the year 1974, the Philippines
Government offered her the, "Magsaysay”
award in appreciation for her service in the
field of Music. She also obtained,” Padma
Vibhushan” and “ Bharat Ratna” award from
the President of India. Her husband, Mr.
Sadasivam who was responsible for playing
a pivotal role in shaping her Music, expired
st
on 21 November, 1997.
"M.S." as M.S. Subbulakshmi was
widely known all over the world of Carnatic
music with her rare voice of divinity for half
a century is a symbol of Indian Music culture
in the world.
Swaminathan, M.S.
In the words of Javier Perez de Cullar, the
then Secretary General of the United Nations
“Dr. Swaminathan is
a living legend". His
contributions to
agricultural science
have made an
indelible mark on
food production in
India. By any
standards, he will go
into the annals of
history as a world scientist of rare
distinction”.
Dr. Swaminathan born in, Kumbakonam,
in_Tarnil Nadu, on August 7, 1925, certainly
appears to be nothing less than Cullar
described him. The extent of his education,
the awards he has won, the positions he has
held and his contribution to science seem to
be more than one person can possibly
achieve in a life time.
Educated at Travancore and Madras
Universities, he received his Ph.D in Genetics
from Cambridge University in 1952 and has
since received over 34 honorary doctorates
from institutions spanning three continents
and recognitions from a staggering 25
scientific academies all over the world.
Over a period of 50 years, Dr. Swaminathan
has made an unbelie-vably extensive
contribution in solving a wide range of
problems in basic and applied plant genetics
and agricultural research and development.
He played a catalytic role in India’s green
revolution between 1960 to 1982 and he was
401
at the forefront of one of the most remarkable
agricultural accomplishments in recent India;
moving the country from having the largest
food deficit in the world to producing enough
grain to feed all its people. Among his other
important contributions are his management
of the 1979 drought as Agriculture Secretary
to the Government of India, his manipulation
of genes to improve the yield, quality and
stability of wheat, rice and potatoes,
identification of the barriers to high yields in
wheat and initiation of the dwarf wheat
breeding programme. These are but a few
of his contributions to the country and indeed
to the world.
Dr. Swaminathan has also published over 250
papers in international journals and several
books.
The eminent scientist has received 20 awards
within the country including the
"Padmashree" in 1967, the "Padma Bhushan"
in. 1972 and the "Padma Vibushan" in 1989.
Adding to this the fact that international award
received by him number an amazing 19. They
include the “Albert Einstein Award on
Science” in 1986. the “World Food Prize” in
1987, regarded widely as equivalent to the
Nobel Prize in Agriculture.
Thiagaraja
Bagavathar, M.K.
In the Tamil film Industry, M.K.Thiagaraja
Bagavathar was a renowned artist in the
beginning itself.
WORLD HISTORY
402
imprisonment. However he waged, a legal
battle against the charge and got exonerated
and set free after 2½ years imprisonment
His wife’s name was Kamalambal and he
had two daughters and one son.
He had a glorious life for three decades in
st
the film industry and he passed away on 1
November, 1958.
P.T. USHA
st
He was born on 1 March, 1910 in Trichy.
He had his primary education at the primary
school in Trichy run by a Christian church.
He had deep passion for music and his father
made him to assist in his business.
He was introduced as an actor in one of the
drama troupes and his songs won laurels
from the audience. Then he learnt the
Carnatic music from the famous musicians
in a systematic manner.
Later he acted in a movie by
name,”Pavazhakodi” directed by K.
Subramaniam and his songs became very
popular among the mass.
He started a film company by
name,"Thiagaraja films" and he could
produce some films also. His film,
"Ambikabathy" was a big hit in the box office.
He had continuous victories in all his
consecutive films and one among those was,
"Thiruneelakandar". This movie celebrated
Silver Jubilee as it ran for 25 weeks.
His next movies like, "Sivakavi" and "Haridas"
also were his master pieces. But at this
juncture, when he won considerable fame
due to his hit movies, his image was
shattered. He got arrested in a murder case
and was sentenced for life time
Without a shadow of doubt, P.T. Usha, is
the greatest Indian woman athlete of all
times. Winner of
four gold medals
and a silver in the
Seoul Asiad, 1986,
she is at times
talked of Jesse
Owens in the same
breath, as Owens
won four gold in one
afternoon in Berlin
in 1936.
Usha, is India's pride and joy. Trained by
a retired Air Force sergeant, O.M. Nambiar,
Usha was an Olympic sensation at Los
Angeles in 1984. Like Milkha Singh in the
400 rnetres in 1960, she narrowly missed the
bronze in the 400 metres hurdles, introduced
as an Olympic discipline for the first time.
Usha created history by entering the final
and everyone asked whether she would win
an Olympic medal which had been eluding
India since Norman Pritchard won the silver
in 1900. She almost did it beaten by only a
whisker by the bronze medallist.
Usha's brilliant performance earlier at the
Asian Track and Field meet at Jakarta, where
she had a haul of five gold medals, earned
the unstinted praise of Asia's greatest woman
athlete, Chi Cheng of Taiwan.
Usha joined the Railways and got
married, but she did not give up athletics.
The golden girl has promised to train women
athletes to glory.
403
He also obtained awards from the Chief
Minister Mr. Karunanidhi for two times in
1989 and in 1995. He has written 5000 songs
so far and he has also tried his hand at the
story and direction of a film.
His book, "Thanneer Desam" has won the
literary prize of Si.Pa. Aditanar as it is
appreciated as a Science Epic. His recent
book,"Karuvaachi Kaaviyam" has been
applauded as an Epic.
Vasan, S.S.
Vairamuthu
th
The lyricist Vairamuthu was born on 13
July,1953 in Teni District. His father was
Ramaswamy Thevar and his mother was
Angammal.
He joined the
Pachiappa’s College
at Chennai in 1970
and obtained several
prizes for his
oratorical skills and
poetry competitions.
When he was
doing his second
year in BA, his first collection of poems,
"Vaigarai Megangal" was published. He
studied MA Tamil Literature and acquired a
first class. He entered into the film world
thorough Barathiraja’s film, "Nizhalgal" in the
year 1980.
In 1986, he got the President award for
his lyrics in the film, "Mudal Mariyadai". He
obtained the Best Award for writing lyrics
five times consecutively from the President.
He has penned 29 books so far. He wrote
the history of Bharatiyar as the, "Kavirajan
Kadai" and won the Bharati literary award.
“Gemini” S.S. Vasan who executed the
greatest accomplishment both in the film
world and in the magazine field was born in
a poor family on
th
10 March, 1903
in Tanjore District.
His father’s name
was Subramanya
Aiyer.
He lost his
father in his
childhood days.
His mother was
able to bring him up with a meagre income
earned out of her hard work. She inspired
him by telling stories and Vasan had the urge
to come up in life only through her advice.
After completing his high school
education, he joined the Pachiappa’s college
and studied up to Intermediate. He was not
able to continue his studies beyond that due
to his poverty.
A Tamil scholar by name Vaidyanatha
Aiyer was running the magazine called,
"Ananda Vikatan" and Vasan used to give
advertisements for that magazine. Due to
financial crunch, he handed over the
responsibility of running the magazine to
Vasan.
404
WORLD HISTORY
Kalki Krishnamoorthy joined the Ananda
Vikatan magazine and the sales of it grew
rapidly.
His untiring efforts and undaunted spirit
dragged him to the path of success very soon.
His story, "Sathi Leelavathy" was released
as a film in 1935.
Then he started an organization called,
"Gemini Pictures Circuit” and involved in film
distribution. Then he became the film
producer and took films like, "Madana
Kamarajan" and, "Bala Nagamma". These
two films were box – office hits. He also
took various successful films.
He planned to take the film,
"Chandraleka" in a sweeping style equivalent
to English films. He produced the film with
30 lakhs in the year 1948. Later he released
the film in Hindi also and the whole of North
India looked at him with great astonishment.
Following this film, he took "Apoorva
Sakodararkal" in a very short span of time.
This film also was a grand success.
“Vanjikottai Valiban”, a film which was
released with the direction of S.S. Vasan also
won him great fame.
Vasan who embossed his name in the
golden letters both in the film world and in
the history of Tamil literature, passed away
th
on 26 August, 1969.
N. Vittal
N. Vittal, born 31st January 1938 at
Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, (Father N.
Nagarajan, Asst. Public Prosector; Mother
Padma Bai) graduated from the University
of Madras in 1958 with a degree in
(B.Sc(Hons) in Chemistry). Studied at the
Loyola College, Chennai. After a short stint
as a Lecturer in Jamal Mohammed College,
Tiruchi, joined the Indian Administrative
Service (IAS) in 1960.
He had a long innings of 42 years in public
administration and industrial management. He
brought a creative
and innovative
approach to his
work and in every
assignment he was
able to leave his
mark. The two
significant areas
where the Indian
economy has done well are information
technology and telecommunication. Mr. Vittal
occupied key policy making positions in
government, as Secretary to Government of
India in the department of Electronics (now
renamed as the Ministry of Information
Technology) from 1990-1996 and was the
Chairman of the Telecom Commission and
Secretary to the Department of
Telecommunicationn from 1993-94. In these
assignments he was able to initiate innovative
measures like the Software technology parks
and the policy for liberalization of telecom
sector which brought rich dividends to the
country in terms of all round developments,
increasing employment opportunities.
The Business Today magazine, in its
golden jubilee issue celebrating the golden
jubilee of India's independence in August
1997, included him in the list of 50 persons
who have made a contribution to the economic
development of the country.
After retiring from the IAS in 1996, he
was appointed by the government of India
to be the Chairman of the Public Enterprises
Selection Board. On 1998, September 3rd,
he was appointed as the Central Vigilance
Commissioner, being the first CVC selected
by the new process directed by the
Supreme Court, where the selection was
to be made by a Committee consisting of
Prime Minister, Home Minister and the
Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
As the Central Vigilance Commissioner, he
was able to bring greater visibility, credibility
and effectiveness to this organization which
was initially for established in 1964. He is
remembered for using information
technology to fight corruption for the first
time in the world and also pushing the public
sector banks to computerize their operation
on a wide basis.
Vittal has not only been an effective
administrator, is also a thinker and writer
on a wide range of issues covering
information technology, public governance
and management.
He has been a recipient of many honours,
including the Dataquest IT Man of the Year
(1993) and Winner of the Lifetime
Achievement Award of Dataquest in 2004.
He is a honorary fellow of the Computer
Society of India and a honorary member of
the Institute of Electronic and
Telecommunication Engineers as well as the
Institution of the Industrial Engineers of
India. Widely traveled he is interested in
reading, writing and long walks.
Happily married, he has a son and a
daughter.
405
Vijay Anand
Vijay Anand is the head of the Tamil
Association in Washington.
His native place is
Coimbatore. He was born
in Coimbatore on 7 th
March,1959. The names of
his
parents
are
Dr.M.Murugesan and
Dr.Chellammal. Both of
them served as Professors in Tamil Nadu
Agricultural University.
After obtaining his B.E. Degree, he
launched his career in the field of Electronic
Engineering. Then he proceeded to USA in
the year 1997. After serving in the computer
field, he started a Software Company of his
own there.
He became the leader of Tamil
Association in Washington in 2007. The pride
of increasing the number of the membership
to three times in the Association goes to him.
He has got keen interest in the growth of
Tamil language and literary works. He also
emphasizes the eradication of bribe. He plans
to return to Tamil Nadu after two years and
he would like to labor hard for the eradication
of bribe later.
Dr. Winston V.
Panchatcharam
Dr. Winston V. Panchatcharam, is one of
the laudable Tamilians living in America.
He was born on 11th December 1940 in
Yazhpanam, Colombo during the IInd World
War. His father's name was Panchatcharam
406
and
mother
Sornalaxmi.
Inspired by the
laurels won by
the then Prime
Minister of Great
Britain, Winston
Churchil, for his
undaunted
courage, vision,
optimism and strategy, Panchatcharam
named his son as 'winston' who stood to the
expectations of his father later.
Notwithstanding the fact that Dr. Winston
V. Panchatcharam was born in Colombo, all
along his career, he was brought up and
educated at Yazhpanam and qualified for
M.B.B.S. His medical eminence took him
to America in 1964 and settled there to
practice as doctor. He specialised anesthesia
in the clinical side and established himself
as one of greatest anesthists of the world.
In this context it is a matter of interest to
note that Dr. Panchatcharam was one in
the panel of doctors who have successfully
performed Kidney Transplantation surgery
in America for Dr. M.G.R., the former C.M.
of Tamil Nadu.
With the avowed object of uniting the
Tamilians spread all over the world, Dr.
Panchatcharam has formed an organisation
called International Tamil Centre (I.T.C.)
which was inagurated by Dr. Kalaignar M.
Karunidhi at Chennai on 26.9.2001. This
great champion of cause of Tamil and
Tamilians, ventured to build a great building
to house the I.T.C. at New york in America.
On the esthetic side, Dr. Panchatcharam
is a great lover of classical music. Well
acquainted with the classical ragas, his taste
talent and knowledge in this field will
certainly be equated with any musician of
standard. On the instrument side, Dr.
Panchatcharam is a flutist too!
Dr. Panchatcharam was married to
Padmini. He has one son - Dr. Murlai and
one daughter Arabi, named after a soul
stirring raga 'Arabi' by him, thereby once
again he established his love for the Divine
music.

Akira Kurosawa Aristotle

Transcription

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