K. A. P. Viswanatham Pillai (10 November 1899 – 19 December 1994) was a

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

scholar, orator and social activist. Despite having no formal education he developed an interest towards the

Tamil literature Tamil literature includes a collection of literary works that have come from a tradition spanning more than two thousand years. The oldest extant works show signs of maturity indicating an even longer period of evolution. Contributors to the T ...

and

Siddha medicine Siddha medicine is a form of traditional medicine originating in southern India. It is one of the oldest systems of medicine in India. The Indian Medical Association regards Siddha medicine degrees as "fake" and Siddha therapies as quackery, ...

and learned them by himself. His father Periyanna and his elder brother Krishnan and Arumugam living as a joint family. They also doing a joint venture business (tobacco) with the name of K.A.P. That precedes Viswanathan as K.A.P Viswanathan. He also took part in politics and was an active member of Justice Party. He became the first General Secretary of the party, a position which he continued to hold till 1940 after which

C. N. Annadurai Conjeevaram Natarajan Annadurai (15 September 19093 February 1969), also known as Perarignar, was an Indian politician who was the founder and first general-secretary of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). He served as the fourth and last chi ...

took over. He also took part in the Anti-Hindi agitation of 1937–40 and was imprisoned. Viswanatham was also instrumental in launching the

Tamil University The Tamil University is a public state university located in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, India. It was established to provide higher research in the Tamil language. Location The university is situated in a campus of about , granted by the State go ...

Thanjavur Thanjavur (), also known as Thanjai, previously known as Tanjore, Pletcher 2010, p. 195 is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the 12th biggest city in Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is an important center of southern Indian religion, art ...

Biography

K. A. P. Viswanatham was born in 1899 in Tiruchirappalli,

Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency or Madras Province, officially called the Presidency of Fort St. George until 1937, was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India and later the Dominion of India. At its greatest extent, the presidency i ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

to Periyanna Pillai and Subbammal of

Chozhia Vellalar Chozhia Vellalar (also spelt as Sozhia Vellalar) is a high-ranking subcaste of the Vellalar caste. They are landlords and cultivators who formed the aristocracy of ancient Tamil society from the Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Etymol ...

community. As a child, he did not attend any school but developed an interest towards Tamil literature. At the age of five, he began learning the language and would go on to become an established scholar. He was also passionate about

. He entered politics and joined the Justice Party and was made the General secretary, a position he would serve till 1940. He resigned as the secretary due to the differences of opinion that he had with the party leader

Periyar E. V. Ramasamy Erode Venkatappa Ramasamy (17 September 187924 December 1973), commonly known as Periyar, was an Indian social activist and politician. He was the organizer of the Self-Respect Movement and Dravidar Kazhagam and is considered the architect o ...

, after which

succeeded him. Viswanatham died on 19 December 1994 at the age of 95.

Legacy

* During his lifetime, Viswanatham was awarded with two

doctorates A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

. * Higher secondary school established on his memory in Tiruchirappalli, his hometown * K.A.P. Viswanatham Government Medical College is named after him. * A postage stamp was issued under Viswanatham's name on 10 October 2010 by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

References

Cited sources

* * * 1899 births 1994 deaths Politicians from Tiruchirappalli Tamil scholars Justice Party (India) politicians Tamil activists Indian reformers Tamil-language writers Recipients of the Thiruvalluvar Award {{India-activist-stub