Abraham Mar Thoma XVII (born Maret Ninan Abraham) (30 October 1879 – 1 September 1947) was the Metropolitan of the

Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church The Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church, often shortened to Mar Thoma Church, and known also as the Reformed Syrian ChurchS. N. Sadasivan. A Social History of India''. APH Publishing; 2000. . p. 442. and the Mar Thoma Syrian Church of Malab ...

from 1944 to 1947. He was called ''Maret Kochu Thirumeni'' by his people. Among the bishops of Malankara Churches Including

, Abraham Mar Thoma was the first to earn a Doctoral degree.

Early life

Bishop Abraham was born on 30 October 1879 and was the only son of Ninan and Mariamma. Ninan was the son of Abraham of the Maret house. Mariamma was the eldest daughter of Oommachen, Karikattu. Eraviperoor. Mariamma's mother was from Chemmarapallil, Puthupally,

Kottayam Kottayam () is a city in the Kottayam district of Kerala, India. It is the district headquarters of the district and is located about north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. As per the 2011 Indian census, Kottayam has a population of ...

. Bishop Abraham was named after his paternal grandfather Abraham. He had two elder sisters. His parents called him Kochavarachen. His school record shows his name as M. N. Abraham.

Education

He was not a bright student. Many times he failed in his school final and degree examinations. That helped him in later years to encourage the students who failed in their examinations and showed them the path to success.

Ordination

M. N. Abraham and M. P. Pothen (Philipose), Velliyampallil,

Mallappally Mallappally is a census village in the Mallappally Gram Panchayat of Mallappally taluk, Pathanamthitta district, Kerala. It falls under the Thiruvalla Revenue Division and Thiruvalla Constituency. The nearest railway station is Thiruvalla (15 ...

, were the first Indians with university degrees to be ordained as deacons in the

. Titus II Mar Thoma ordained them on 30 April 1912. On 5 December 1914, at his native place Eraviperoor, Deacon Abraham, and Deacon Pothen were ordained as priests. Abraham was appointed as

Kayamkulam Kayamkulam () is a municipality in the Alappuzha district of Kerala, India. It is located south of the district headquarters in Alappuzha and about north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. As per the 2011 Indian census, Kayamkulam has ...

divisional secretary.

Politics

The Metropolitan was a staunch nationalist who stood for the people's democratic rights. He resisted the undemocratic and dictatorial actions of Dewan Sir C. P. Ramaswami Iyer and was instrumental in getting a resolution passed by the Sabha Council (church council) condemning Sir C. P.'s move to proclaim

Travancore The kingdom of Travancore (), also known as the kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor () or later as Travancore State, was a kingdom that lasted from until 1949. It was ruled by the Travancore Royal Family from Padmanabhapuram, and later Thiruvanan ...

as an independent state.Mar Thoma Sabha Directory (1999), pp. 26–27.

References

Bibliography

English * Juhanon Marthoma Metropolitan. (1952). ''Christianity in

India India, officially the Republic of India, 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 by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and a Brief History of the Marthoma Syrian Church''. Pub: K.M. Cherian. * Zac Varghese Dr. & Mathew A. Kallumpram. (2003). ''Glimpses of

History''. London, England. . * Zac Varghese Dr. & Mathew A. Kallumpram. ''Metropolitan Abraham Mar Thoma.'' "Light of Life", Vol. 3, Issue 11, September 2004. Malayalam. * Eapen, Prof. Dr. K. V. (2001). ''Malankara Marthoma Suryani Sabha Charitram'' (History of Malankara Marthoma Syrian Church). Pub: Kallettu, Muttambalam,

. * Mar Thoma Voluntary Evangelistic Association, (1998). Abraham Mar Thoma * Mathew, N. M. ''Malankara Marthoma Sabha Charitram'' (History of the Marthoma Church), Volume I (2006), Volume II (2007), Volume III (2008). Pub. E.J. Institute, Thiruvalla. * Varghese, (1950) ''Dr. Abraham Mar Thoma Metropolitan''. * Daniel, K. N. ''Dr. Abraham Marthoma Metropolitan – Biography''. V.V. Press, Kollam. 1948.

External links

http://marthomasyrianchurch.orghttp://marthoma.inMar Thoma Sunday School, Kuwait
at kuwaitmarthoma.com
Pallipad Mar Thoma
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thoma, Abraham Mar 1879 births 1949 deaths Metropolitans of the Mar Thoma Syrian Church Christian clergy from Alappuzha district 20th-century Anglican archbishops