C. Rajagopalachari

C. Rajagopalachari (right) with Mohandas K. Gandhi

Rajagopalachari as the last incumbent Governor General of India at the proclamation of the Republic of India on January 26, 1950

C. Rajagopalachari ( Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari ; Tamil : சக்ரவர்தி ராஜகோபாலாச்சாரி; *  December 10, 1878 in the village of Thorapalli in the Salem district , Tamil Nadu ; † December 25, 1972 in Madras ; also called Rajaji , CR or Salem Mango ) was an important Indian freedom fighter as well a member of the Indian National Congress .

life and work

Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari was born on December 10, 1878 in the village of Thorapalli, Salem District, Tamil Nadu.

After the partition of India and the independence of India from Great Britain in 1947, he served as the first and last Governor General of India , who was actually of Indian origin, until 1950 . In 1947/48 he was governor of West Bengal . From 1952 to 1954 he held the post of Chief Minister of Madras , now Tamil Nadu.

Disappointed with the development of the Congress Party, which under Jawaharlal Nehru was headed strongly in a socialist direction, he founded the liberal Swatantra party at the age of 81 in 1959 together with NG Ranga and MR Masani , which continued until his death at the age of 94 and the subsequent dissolution in 1974 temporarily became the most important opposition party.

In his homeland of Chennai in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, C. Rajagopalachari struggled with the image of the Brahmin that was attached to him and was therefore long fought by the leading regional Tamil party, which initially demanded full independence and later stronger regional representation ( cf.EV Ramasamis " Self-esteem movement ").

Writing activity

In 1951, C. Rajahopalachari published an abridged translation of the Mahabharata in Tamil and English, and in 1957 the Ramayana followed . According to the preface, these publications were his greatest service to the Indian people.

family

C. Rajagopalachari was a friend and collaborator of Mohandas Gandhi , with whom he was also related; his daughter Lakshmi was married to Gandhi's son Devdas .

Political activity

Awards

In 1954 he was one of the first Bharat Ratna laureates .

literature

• CR Narasimhan [i. e. Chakravarti Rajagopalachari]: Rajagopalachari. A biography. Radiant, New Delhi 1993, ISBN 81-7027-156-X . (CR Narasimhan (1909–1989) was the son of "Rajaji" and temporarily MP for the Congress Party and Swatantra)
• Rajmohan Gandhi: Rajaji. A life. Penguin, New Delhi 1997, ISBN 0-14-026967-3 . (Translated title: The life of Rajagopalachari. The journalist and politician Rajmohan Gandhi (* 1935) is a grandson of Gandhi and Rajagopalachari)
• S [ita]. R.A.M]. Sharma: Life and Works of Chakravarti Rajagopalachari. Book Enclave, Jaipur about 2005, ISBN 81-8152-246-X .
• Chakravarti Rajagopalachari , In: International Biographical Archive. 05/1973 of January 22, 1973, in the Munzinger archive ( beginning of article freely available)

Web links

• Newspaper article about C. Rajagopalachari in the 20th century press kit of the ZBW - Leibniz Information Center for Economics .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Antony RH Hopley: Chakravarti Rajagopalachari . In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography . ( oxforddnb.com ).
2. ↑ Sumathi Ramaswamy: Passions of the Tongue. Language Devotion in Tamil India, 1891-1970 . UC Press E-Books Collection, 1997, ISBN 81-215-0851-7 ( escholarship.org ).
3. ^ C. Rajagopalachari: Preface to Fourth Edition. In: Mahabarata. Bhavan's Book University, Mumbai 2014, pp. Xvii.