P. G. N. Unnithan (1898 – 5 April 1965) was the last diwan (prime minister) of independent

Travancore The kingdom of Travancore (), also known as the kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor () or later as Travancore State, was a kingdom that lasted from until 1949. It was ruled by the Travancore Royal Family from Padmanabhapuram, and later Thiruvanan ...

. He succeeded C. P. Ramaswami Iyer on 20 August 1947 following the latter's resignation (subsequent to the attempt on Iyer's life at the Swathi Thirunal Music Academy on 25 July 1947). He chaired the Travancore Constitutional Reforms Committee. He relinquished office on 24 March 1948 when people's government led by Pattom Thanu Pillai as prime minister took over.

Early life

P. G. N Unnithan hailed from the Edassery Pattaveettil family of Mavelikkara which had a history of high military service to the

royal family. His father, Ittamar Koil Thampuran, was from the

Haripad Haripad is a municipality in ''Odanad, Onattukara'' region of Alappuzha District, Kerala, India located between Alappuzha and Kollam on the NH 66, National Highway 66. Haripad is bordered on the east by Pallippad, Veeyapuram and Karuvatta ...

Palace and nephew of

Kerala Varma Valiya Koil Thampuran Kerala Varma Valiya Koil Thampuran ; (19 February 1845 – 22 September 1914) also spelt Kerala Varma Valiya Koilthampuran and known as Kerala Varma, was a Malayalam - language poet and translator who had an equal facility in writing in Eng ...

. He married Bhargavi Amma, the daughter of P. G. Govinda Pillai (government advocate at

Alappuzha Alappuzha (, आलप्पुळ) or Alleppey is a municipality and town on the Laccadive Sea in the southern Indian state of Kerala. It is the district headquarters of the district, and is located about north of the state capital Thiruvana ...

) of the Pullampilla Pichanattu (Viruthiyathu) family of Chengannur, who was among the earliest women of the region to support the national movement starting with the boycott of foreign clothes at Alleppey organised and led by the veteran freedom fighter and P. G. N. Unnithan's classmate K. Kumar of Travancore. His sister was married to the son of famed artist

Raja Ravi Varma Raja Ravi Varma () (29 April 1848 – 2 October 1906) was an Indian painter and artist. His works are one of the best examples of the fusion of European academic art with a purely Indian sensibility and iconography. Especially, he was notable f ...

of the royal family of Mavelikkara. He had four children. He died on 5 April 1965.

Legacy

''Unnithan Lane'' at

Sasthamangalam Sasthamangalam is a ward in the city of Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the ...

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram ( ), also known as Trivandrum, is the Capital city, capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. As of 2011, the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation had a population of 957,730 over an area of 214.86 sq. km, making it the ...

is named after him.

References

1898 births 1965 deaths Diwans of Travancore Indian Hindus Politicians from Thiruvananthapuram Malayali politicians {{Kerala-politician-stub