Sarvepalli Gopal (23 April 1923 – 20 April 2002) was a well-known

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

n historian. He was the son of

Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (; 5 September 1888 – 17 April 1975), natively Radhakrishnayya, was an Indian philosopher and statesman. He served as the 2nd President of India from 1962 to 1967. He also 1st Vice President of India from 1952 ...

, the first

Vice-President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

and the second

President of India The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Murm ...

. He was the author of the ''Radhakrishnan: A Biography'' and ''Jawaharlal Nehru: A Biography''.

Early life and education

Sarvepalli Gopal was born in

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

, India, on 23 April 1923 into a middle class family. He was the only son of

S. Radhakrishnan Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (; 5 September 1888 – 17 April 1975), natively Radhakrishnayya, was an Indian philosopher and statesman. He served as the 2nd President of India from 1962 to 1967. He also 1st Vice President of India from 1952 ...

, the first vice-president and second president of independent India, and Sivakamu. He had five sisters. Gopal was educated at

Mill Hill School Mill Hill School is a 13–18 mixed independent, day and boarding school in Mill Hill, London, England that was established in 1807. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. History A committee of Nonconformis ...

in London and at the

Madras Christian College Madras Christian College (MCC) is a liberal arts and sciences college in Chennai, India. Founded in 1837, MCC is one of Asia's oldest extant colleges. The college is affiliated to the University of Madras but functions as an autonomous insti ...

. He was an undergraduate student of history at

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the ...

, where he won the Curzon Prize. He continued as a student at Balliol earning his

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * '' Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. al ...

on the viceroyalty of

Lord Ripon George Frederick Samuel Robinson, 1st Marquess of Ripon, (24 October 1827 – 9 July 1909), styled Viscount Goderich from 1833 to 1859 and known as the Earl of Ripon in 1859 and as the Earl de Grey and Ripon from 1859 to 1871, was a British p ...

in 1951.

Career

Subsequently, he was appointed as a Director in the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, in the 1950s, where he worked closely with

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian Anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India du ...

. In the 1960s, he was a

Reader A reader is a person who reads. It may also refer to: Computing and technology * Adobe Reader (now Adobe Acrobat), a PDF reader * Bible Reader for Palm, a discontinued PDA application * A card reader, for extracting data from various forms of ...

in Indian History at

St Antony's College, Oxford St Antony's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1950 as the result of the gift of French merchant Sir Antonin Besse of Aden, St Antony's specialises in international relations, economi ...

. When the new

Jawaharlal Nehru University Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) is a public major research university located in New Delhi, India. It was established in 1969 and named after Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister. The university is known for leading faculties an ...

was founded by the then

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was elected as third prime minister of India in 1966 and was al ...

, he was appointed as a

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of History at the Centre for Historical Studies, which he helped in setting up. In the 1970s, he was a

Chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the group ...

of the

National Book Trust National Book Trust (NBT) is an Indian publishing house, which was founded in 1957 as an autonomous body under the Ministry of Education of the Government of India. The activities of the Trust include publishing, promotion of books and reading, ...

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Hous ...

Death

Gopal died due to

renal failure Kidney failure, also known as end-stage kidney disease, is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney failure is classified as eit ...

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

on 20 April 2002, three days before his 79th birthday.

Publications

Books

*''History of Humanity: Scientific and Cultural Development, Vol. 7: The Twentieth Century'', (Paris: UNESCO, Routledge, 2008) (co-author Tichvinskii, Sergei Leonidovich) *''Jawaharlal Nehru: A Biography'', (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2004) *''The Essential Writings of Jawaharlal Nehru'', (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2003) (co-author Uma Iyengar) *''Anatomy of Confrontation: The Babri Masjid Ramjanmabhumi Issue'', (New Delhi: Viking, 1991) *''Radhakrishnan: A Biography'', (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1992) *''Economy, Society and Development: Essays and Reflections in Honour of Malcolm Adesheshiah'', (New Delhi: Sage, 1991) (co-authors Kurien, C.T., E.R. Prabhakar) *''Jawaharlal Nehru: An Anthology'', (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1983) *''Selected Works of Jawaharlal Nehru'', (New Delhi: Orient Longman, 1972–82) (co-authors Chalapatti Rau, M., Sharada Prasad, H.Y., Nanda, B.R.) *''British Policy in India, 1858-1905'', (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1965) *''Modern India'', (London: Historical Association, 1967) *''The Viceroyalty of Lord Irwin, 1926-1931'', (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1957) *''The Viceroyalty of Lord Ripon, 1880-1884'', (London: Oxford University Press, 1957) *''The Permanent Settlement in Bengal and its Result'', (London, G.Allen and Unwin, 1949)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gopal, Sarvapalli 1923 births 2002 deaths 20th-century Indian historians Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Children of presidents of India Deaths from kidney failure Fellows of St Antony's College, Oxford Historians of South Asia Indian civil servants Jawaharlal Nehru University faculty Madras Christian College alumni People educated at Mill Hill School Place of birth missing Place of death missing Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in literature & education Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in English Scholars from Chennai Telugu people University of Madras alumni