Chetput Ramaswami Iyer Pattabhiraman ( ta, சேத்துப்பட்டு ராமசவாமி ஐயர் பட்டாபிராமன்) (11 November 1906 – 19 June 2001) was an Indian lawyer and politician from the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British ...

. He was the eldest son of Indian statesman

C. P. Ramaswami Iyer Sir Chetput Pattabhiraman Ramaswami Iyer (12 November 1879 – 26 September 1966), popularly known as Sir C. P., was an Indian lawyer, administrator and politician who served as the Advocate-General of Madras Presidency from 1920 to 1923, Law ...

. He served as a Member of Indian Parliament from Kumbakonam from 1957 to 1967 and as a Union Minister from 1966 to 1967.

Early life and education

Pattabhiraman was born on 11 November 1906 to C. P. Ramaswami Iyer and his wife Seethamma. As Pattabhiraman was born after a ''Naga Prathistha yagna'' or a sacrifice to the Hindu god

Nāga The Nagas (IAST: ''nāga''; Devanāgarī: नाग) are a divine, or semi-divine, race of half-human, half-serpent beings that reside in the netherworld (Patala), and can occasionally take human or part-human form, or are so depicted in art. ...

by Seethamma who had earlier suffered two miscarriages, Pattabhiraman was initially named Nagarajan. He was born a day before his father's 27th birthday. Pattabhiraman had his schooling from the P. S. Higher Secondary School,

Mylapore Mylapore, also spelt Mayilapur, is a neighbourhood in the central part of the city of Chennai, India. It is one of the oldest residential parts of the city. It is also called Tirumayilai. The locality is claimed to be the birthplace of the cel ...

, Madras and graduated from

Presidency College, Madras Presidency College is an art, commerce, and science college in the city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu, India. On 16 October 1840, this school was established as the Madras Preparatory School before being repurposed as a high school, and then a gra ...

. He did his LL. B at the

London School of Economics and Political Science The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...

and qualified for the bar from the Middle Temple in 1932. Pattabhiraman practised as an advocate after his graduation and in 1938, became an advocate of the Federal Court, Delhi, now the Supreme Court of India.

Politics

Pattabhiraman was a member of the Indian National Congress from his early days. He participated in the boycott of the

Simon Commission The Indian Statutory Commission also known as Simon Commission, was a group of seven Members of Parliament under the chairmanship of Sir John Simon. The commission arrived in India in 1928 to study constitutional reform in Britain's largest a ...

and the activities of the

India League The India League was an England-based organisation that campaigned for the full independence and self-governance of India. The League was established in 1928 by Krishna Menon and has been described as "the principal organisation promoting Indian n ...

. He was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1957 and 1962 from Kumbakonam. In May 1962, Pattabhiraman was appointed Deputy Minister for Labour, Employment and Planning by the then Prime Minister

Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

and served as the Deputy Minister for Information and Broadcasting from 15 June 1964 to 24 January 1966. He also served as a Minister for Law and Company Affairs from 25 January 1966 till his resignation in 1967. Pattabhiraman lost the 1967 elections from Kumbakonam and retired from politics.

Sports

Pattabhiraman was an excellent sportsman and a patron of sporting championships. He established the Mylapore Recreation Club and along with

P. Subbarayan Paramasiva Subbarayan (11 September 1889 – 6 October 1962) was an Indian politician, freedom fighter and diplomat and was the Chief Minister of Madras Presidency, India's ambassador to Indonesia and Union Minister of Transport and Communica ...

, founded the Madras Cricket Association.

Death

Pattabhiraman died in his sleep on 19 June 2001 at the age of 94.

Family

Pattabhiraman's father, Sir C. P. Ramaswami Iyer was one of India's front ranking statesman and at the time of his birth, the lawyer with the highest income in India. On 26 January 1925, Pattabhiraman married Saraswathi, the daughter of Captain Dr. P. Krishnaswami, Principal of Stanley College, Madras and niece of

Pennathur Subramania Iyer Pennathur Subramania Iyer (1860–1901) was an Indian lawyer and philanthropist who is best known as the founder of the P. S. Charities. Early life Pennathur Subramania Iyer was born in Pennathur in Chittoor in the then North Arcot district of Ma ...

, founder of P. S. High School. The couple had four daughters - Shakunthala (1927-2000), Seetha (1933-1958), Lakshmi and Padmini.

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pattabhiraman, C. R. 1906 births 2001 deaths Presidency College, Chennai alumni Lok Sabha members from Tamil Nadu Alumni of the London School of Economics People from Thanjavur district India MPs 1957–1962 India MPs 1962–1967