M. Radhakrishna Pillai (1911–1974) was an Indian politician and philanthropist who served as

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

city. The

Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium is a field hockey stadium at Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Named after M. Radhakrishna Pillai, it was the venue to the 1996 Men's Champions Trophy, and hosted the tournament again in December 2005. It was also the ve ...

in Chennai is named after him.

Early life

Radhakrishna Pillai was born in 1911 to Venkatarathnam Pillai and Alarmel Mangai Thayar. His mother belonged to the affluent Thottakadu family. Venkataratnam Pillai died when Radhakrishna Pillai was young. Pillai's grandfather died in 1930. Radhakrishna Pillai had his schooling at the Hindu Theological High School and Pachaiyappa's High School. He graduated from the

Pachaiyappa's College Pachaiyappa's College is one of the oldest educational institutions in Chennai, in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. In addition, it is the first sole Indian college in Madras Presidency. History Pachaiyappa's College, Chennai is the resul ...

in 1930 and studied law at the

Madras Law College Dr. Ambedkar Government Law College, commonly known by its former name Madras Law College, is a law school, located in Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), ...

. Following his graduation, Pillai worked as a junior under the lawyer,

V. C. Gopalratnam Sir Vembakkam Comanduru Desikachariar (31 December 1861 – 14 November 1919) was an Indian lawyer, politician and Indian independence activist who served as a member of the Madras Legislative Council from 1904 to 1908. Desikachariar also parti ...

. He married Perundevi Thayarammal in 1936.

As Mayor

Radhakrishna Pillai served as

city in 1944–45. As mayor, he brought about a number of reforms.

Later life

Radhakrishna Pillai stayed away from politics from 1962 to 1967 and re-emerged in 1969 as a supporter of

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and stateswoman who served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 un ...

against

K. Kamaraj Kumaraswami Kamaraj (15 July 1903 – 2 October 1975), popularly known as Kamarajar was an Indian independence activist and politician who served as the Chief Minister of Madras from 13 April 1954 to 2 October 1963. He also served as the pr ...

. He died in 1974 at the age of 63.

References

* {{Authority control 1911 births 1974 deaths Mayors of Chennai