Appasaheb Pant (1912-1992), also known as Apa Pant, Appa Pant, Appa Sahib Pant, Appsaheb Balasaheb Pant, Parashuram-rao Pant (Parashuram being his first name), was an Indian diplomat, Prince of

Aundh Aundh may refer to * Aundh State, a princely state in British India ** Aundh Experiment, an early test of village-level self-government in British India * Aundh, Satara, Satara District, Maharashtra, India * Aundh, Pune Aundh is an upscale, a ...

Gandhian The followers of Mahatma Gandhi, the greatest figure of the Indian independence movement, are called Gandhians. Gandhi's legacy includes a wide range of ideas ranging from his dream of ideal India (or ''Rama Rajya)'', economics, environmentalism, ...

, writer and

freedom fighter A resistance movement is an organized effort by some portion of the civil population of a country to withstand the legally established government or an occupying power and to disrupt civil order and stability. It may seek to achieve its objective ...

. A philosopher by nature and a mystic at heart, who served for over forty years as a career diplomat for the

Indian Government The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

. He served as the Indian Commissioner at various African countries such as Kenya, Uganda,

Tanganyika Tanganyika may refer to: Places * Tanganyika Territory (1916–1961), a former British territory which preceded the sovereign state * Tanganyika (1961–1964), a sovereign state, comprising the mainland part of present-day Tanzania * Tanzania M ...

Zanzibar Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islan ...

Northern Rhodesia Northern Rhodesia was a British protectorate in south central Africa, now the independent country of Zambia. It was formed in 1911 by amalgamating the two earlier protectorates of Barotziland-North-Western Rhodesia and North-Eastern Rhodes ...

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally k ...

Nyasaland Nyasaland () was a British protectorate located in Africa that was established in 1907 when the former British Central Africa Protectorate changed its name. Between 1953 and 1963, Nyasaland was part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasal ...

and the Belgian colony of the Congo and, later, as the Indian ambassador to countries like Indonesia, Norway, Egypt, United Kingdom and Italy.He also served as the Political Officer for India in the Kingdom of Sikkim . The

Government of India The Government of India ( ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

honoured him in 1954, with the award of

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is confe ...

, the fourth highest Indian civilian award for his contributions to the society, placing him among the first recipients of the award.

Biography

Appa Sahib Bala Saheb Pant was born on 11 September 1912 in the

Aundh, Satara The town of Aundh is situated 26 mi. S.E. of Satara. Population (in 2011) about 3500, home of the Aundh State, a princely state (1699–1947). It is now part of Satara District in Maharashtra State. The town is known for its very ol ...

capital city of princely state of Aundh in the

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

, presently near Satara in the Indian state of Maharashtra, as the second son of

Bhawanrao Shriniwasrao Pant Pratinidhi Bhawanrao Shriniwasrao Pant Pratinidhi C.B.E (October 24, 1868 – April 13, 1951), popularly known as Balasaheb Pant Pratinidhi or Bhawanrao Balasaheb Pant Pratinidhi, was the ruler of the princely state of Aundh of British Raj during the rei ...

, the ruler of the state. After schooling at local institutions, he graduated (BA) from the

University of Mumbai The University of Mumbai is a collegiate, state-owned, public research university in Mumbai. The University of Mumbai is one of the largest universities in the world. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. Ratan Tata is the appointed ...

and studied philosophy, politics and economics at

Brasenose College, Oxford Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The library and chapel were added in the m ...

. He continued his studies in London and passed Barrister at Law from Lincoln's Inn and returned to India in 1937 when the

Indian freedom movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...

was gathering pace. Pant married Nalini Devi,Gaurav Desai
Commerce with the Universe: Africa, India, and the Afrasian Imagination
p. 75 a medical doctor and a

fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons Fellowship of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons (FRCS) is a professional qualification to practise as a senior surgeon in Ireland or the United Kingdom. It is bestowed on an intercollegiate basis by the four Royal Colleges of Surgeons (the Royal ...

in 1942 and the couple had three children,

Aditi Aditi (Sanskrit: अदिति, lit. 'boundless' or 'limitless' or 'innocence') is an important Vedic goddess in Hinduism. She is the personification of the sprawling infinite and vast cosmos. She is the goddess of motherhood, consciousne ...

, Aniket and Avalokita. He died, aged 80, on 5 October 1992, succumbing to old age illnesses.

Political and diplomatic career

Pant started his political and diplomatic career as the Minister of Education of the

Aundh State Aundh State was a Maratha princely state in the British Raj, in the Deccan States Agency division of the Bombay Presidency. The Principality of Aundh covered an area of 1298 square kilometers with the population of 88,762 in 1941. The capital ...

in 1944 when his father was the ruler of the state. His tenure lasted one year and during this period and thereafter, he was involved in the discussions related to the integration of the state into Indian Union. After India's independence, he entered

Indian Foreign Service The Indian Foreign Service (IFS) is the diplomatic service and a central civil service of the Government of India under the Ministry of External Affairs. The Foreign Secretary is the head of the service. Vinay Mohan Kwatra is the 34th and the ...

, got deputed to Africa and worked in Kenya, Uganda,

and the Belgian colony of the Congo. In 1954, he was appointed as the Officer on Special duty with the

Minister of External Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The enti ...

when India's relationship with China was strained. He represented India at

Bandung Conference The first large-scale Asian–African or Afro–Asian Conference ( id, Konferensi Asia–Afrika)—also known as the Bandung Conference—was a meeting of Asian and African states, most of which were newly independent, which took place on 18–2 ...

in 1956 for the formation of

Non-Aligned Movement The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is a forum of 120 countries that are not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. After the United Nations, it is the largest grouping of states worldwide. The movement originated in the aftermath ...

. He also worked as the Officer in Charge of the missions of

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

and

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountai ...

and

Sikkim Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Siligu ...

, and as Ambassador to Indonesia (1961–64), Norway (1964–66), Egypt (1966–69), United Kingdom (1969–72) and Italy (1972–75).

Literary career

Apasaheb Pant was a former judge for the

Templeton Prize The Templeton Prize is an annual award granted to a living person, in the estimation of the judges, "whose exemplary achievements advance Sir John Templeton's philanthropic vision: harnessing the power of the sciences to explore the deepest quest ...

, an international recognition honouring the ''entrepreneurship of spirit'', He published eight books towards the latter part of his life. * ''

Surya Namaskar Sun Salutation, also called Surya Namaskar(a) or Salute to the Sun (), is a practice in yoga as exercise incorporating a flow sequence of some twelve gracefully linked asanas. The asana sequence was first recorded as yoga in the early 20th centu ...

, an Ancient Indian Exercise'' (1970) * ''Towards Socialist Transformation of Indian Economy'' (1973) * ''A Moment in Time'' (1974) * ''Mandala: An Awakening'' (1976) * ''Survival of the Individual'' (1983) * ''Undiplomatic Incidents'' (1987) * ''An Unusual Raja – Mahatma Gandhi and the Aundh Experiment'' (1989) * ''An Extended Family of Fellow Pilgrims'' (1990)

Awards

In 1954, he was awarded with

, the fourth highest Indian civilian award for his contributions to the society, placing him among the first recipients of the award.

Biography

Political and diplomatic career

Literary career

Awards

See also

References

Further reading