K. Augustine Joseph (24 March 1912 – 3 February 1965) was an

Indian classical music Indian classical music is the art music, classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It is generally described using terms like ''Shastriya Sangeet'' and ''Marg Sangeet''. It has two major traditions: the North Indian classical music known as ...

ian and

stage actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

from

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

, India. He was the father of Indian playback singer K. J. Yesudas and grandfather of singer

Vijay Yesudas Vijay Yesudas (born 23 March 1979) is an Indian playback singer and actor. He has sung over 1000 film songs. Vijay works predominantly in the South Indian film industry, mostly in Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, and Hindi. He is the son of ...

Life

He was born in

Kochi Kochi ( , ), List of renamed Indian cities and states#Kerala, formerly known as Cochin ( ), is a major port city along the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea. It is part of the Ernakulam district, district of Ernakulam in the ...

, as the only son of Kattassery Augustine and Thresyamma, both farmers. He married Puthanpurakkal Elizabeth in 1937, and they had seven children - five sons and two daughters - namely Pushpa (b. 1938), Yesudas (b. 1940), Antony (Nicknamed Antappan, b. 1943), Babu (b. 1945), Mani (b. 1948), Jayamma (b. 1953) and Justin (b. 1958) in chronological order. Among these siblings, Pushpa and Babu died of severe fever at a young age. Although Augustine Joseph was a self-identified Catholic, he believed in Oneness among religion and there was only One Supreme God who is called by different names in different religions. He had instilled that outlook on religion and spirituality in his children, which heavily influenced Yesudas' own worldview. Augustine Joseph started training in music and acting at a very young age. By the 1940s, he had established himself as a musical icon in South India for his numerous performances, both in acting and singing, in stage plays based on Biblical and Hindu Puranic stories. In 1949, Augustine Joseph was approached by Malayalam film producer and director,

Kunchacko Maliampurackal Chacko Kunchacko (19 February 1912 – 15 June 1976) was an Indian film producer and director who worked in the Malayalam film industry. His venture Udaya Studios influenced the gradual shift of Malayalam film industry from it ...

, who offered him a lead acting role in his upcoming film. That movie, '' Nalla Thankan'', was released in 1950 to critical acclaim and was noted for being the "first big hit" in Malayalam Cinema. Augustine Joseph had also done playback singing for a five songs in the movie. In addition, Augustine Joseph played a minor role in the 1953 Malayalam film, '' Velakkaran'', where he had also done playback singing for two songs. Augustine Joseph died of a suspected heart attack aged 53 in 1965. Yesudas, his son, later said in an interview that he had faced lot of money problems during this period and when his father died, the hospital authorities told him to give Rs. 1000/-. It was the famous lyricist P. Bhaskaran who helped him during this period. He was buried according to his wish at

Filmography

As an actor

*Nallathanka (1950) *Velakkaaran (1953)

As a playback singer

* Mahesha Maayamo ... Nallathanka 1950 * Sodara Bandhamathonne ... Nallathanka 1950 * Manoharamee Raajyam ... Nallathanka 1950 * Maanam Thanna Maariville ... Nallathanka 1950 * Aanandamaanaake ... Nallathanka 1950 * Paahimaam Jagadeeshwara ... Velakkaaran 1953 * Aanandamennum ... Velakkaaran 1953

References

20th-century Indian male classical singers 1912 births 1965 deaths Singers from Kochi Malayalam playback singers Indian male playback singers Male actors in Malayalam cinema 20th-century Indian male actors K. J. Yesudas {{India-singer-stub