Goparaju Ramachandra Lavanam (10 October 1930 – 14 August 2015), known popularly as G. Lavanam or Lavanam, was an Indian

social reformer A reform movement or reformism is a type of social movement that aims to bring a social or also a political system closer to the community's ideal. A reform movement is distinguished from more radical social movements such as revolutionary m ...

and

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, ...

. He worked to remove

untouchability Untouchability is a form of social institution that legitimises and enforces practices that are discriminatory, humiliating, exclusionary and exploitative against people belonging to certain social groups. Although comparable forms of discrimin ...

in Indian society. He was an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

and co-founded the Samskar institution with his wife Hemalatha Lavanam. Chennupati Vidya and G. Samaram are his siblings.

Life

He was born to atheist leader

Goparaju Ramachandra Rao Goparaju Ramachandra Rao ( nickname: Gora) (15 November 1902 – 26 July 1975) was an Indian social reformer, atheist activist and a participant in the Indian independence movement. He authored many books on atheism and proposed atheism as self ...

"Gora" and Saraswathi Gora on 10 October 1930. He began social work at the age of 12 under the guidance of his father. He was the interpreter of

Vinoba Bhave Vinayak Narahari, also known as Vinoba Bhave (; 11 September 1895 – 15 November 1982), was an Indian advocate of nonviolence and human rights. Often called ''Acharya'' (Sanskrit teacher), he is best known for the Bhoodan Movement. He is con ...

during his land reform movement in

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to t ...

and parts of

Orissa Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of S ...

. He married outside his caste to Hemalatha Lavanam, daughter of noted poet Gurram Joshua, in 1960 at

Sevagram Sevagram (meaning "A town for/of service") is a town in the state of Maharashtra, India. It was the place of Mahatma Gandhi's ashram and his residence from 1936 to his death in 1948. After Sabarmati, Sevagram Ashram holds immense importance ...

. After the

1977 Andhra Pradesh cyclone The 1977 Andhra Pradesh cyclone was a devastating tropical cyclone that hit Andhra Pradesh in November 1977, killing at least 10,000 people.The storm in Orissa. Economist, 00130613, 11/6/1999, Vol. 353, Issue 8144 The worst affected areas were i ...

hit Diviseema, Lavanam helped in the rehabilitation work. He and his wife worked to reform the Jogini system prevalent in Andhra Pradesh through their organisation, Samskar. His wife, a well known atheist and social reformer, died on 19 March 2008 at the age of 75. She was suffering from

ovarian cancer Ovarian cancer is a cancerous tumor of an ovary. It may originate from the ovary itself or more commonly from communicating nearby structures such as fallopian tubes or the inner lining of the abdomen. The ovary is made up of three different ...

. Lavanam died on 14 August 2015, due to

multiple organ failure Multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) is altered organ function in an acutely ill patient requiring medical intervention to achieve homeostasis. Although Irwin and Rippe cautioned in 2005 that the use of "multiple organ failure" or "multis ...

at a hospital in

Vijayawada Vijayawada, formerly known as Bezawada, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and is a part of the state's Capital Region. It is the administrative headquarters of the NTR district. Its metropolitan region comprises N ...

Views and opinions

Lavanam supported the formation of the new state

Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the eleventh-largest state and the twelfth-most populated state in India with a geographical area of and ...

. According to him, there were few cultural and social ties between Telangana and Andhra. He wrote a petition to the

Andhra Pradesh High Court The High Court of Andhra Pradesh is the High Court of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The seat of the High Court is currently located at Nelapadu. History The High Court of Andhra Pradesh was established in the year 1954 when the stat ...

for the inclusion of an atheist option in the

Indian census The decennial Census of India has been conducted 16 times, as of 2021. While it has been undertaken every 10 years, beginning in 1872 under British Viceroy Lord Mayo, the first complete census was taken in 1881. Post 1949, it has been conducted by ...

Awards

* 1991: Atheist of the Decade Award from Atheists United in Los Angeles for promoting international atheism 1980 to 1990. * 2009:

Jamnalal Bajaj Award Jamnalal Bajaj Award is an Indian award, for promoting Gandhian values, community service and social development. Established in 1978, by the Jamnalal Bajaj Foundation of Bajaj Group, it is given annually in four categories, and usually presented ...

for resettling and providing employment opportunities to the members of

Denotified Tribes Denotified Tribes are the tribes in India that were listed originally under the Criminal Tribes Act of 1871, as ''Criminal Tribes'' and "addicted to the systematic commission of non-bailable offences." Once a tribe became "notified" as criminal ...

. * 2011: Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Service Society, which is affiliated with the Vaishnava Center for Enlightenment, for his contribution to world peace and service to humanity. *2015: International Humanist Award from Probe Resource Center for Journalist in Hyderabad, for his contribution to promote human rights and social reforms.

Books

* ''Gandhi as We Have Known Him'', with

Mark Lindley Mark Lindley (born 1937) is a noted musicologist and, more recently, a historian of modern India, and a teacher of economics. Born in Washington, D.C., he studied at Harvard University (A.B.), the Juilliard School of Music (M.S.) and Columbia Univ ...

(National Gandhi Museum, New Delhi, 2005; 2nd edition, 2009)

References

External links

*
'Goddess, Let Them Go''Evolution of Voluntary Sector in Modern Andhra: Past and Present- Sundar Kompalli, Ph D (HCU)'
{{Authority control Dalit activists 1930 births 2015 deaths Indian atheists Gandhians Activists from Andhra Pradesh Indian social reformers People from Vijayawada 20th-century Indian educational theorists Scholars from Andhra Pradesh