Palathinkal Varkey Cherian (or Cheriyan) (9 July 1893 – 9 November 1969) was a

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

surgeon In medicine, a surgeon is a medical doctor who performs surgery. Even though there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon is a licensed physician and received the same medical training as physicians before spec ...

and politician from India. He was the

Governor of Maharashtra The governor of Maharashtra is the ceremonial head of the Indian state of Maharashtra. The Constitution of India confers the executive powers of the state to the governor; however, the de facto executive powers lie with the Council of Minister ...

from 14 November 1964 to 8 November 1969.

Early life and medical career

Cherian was born in Alleppey,

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 ...

, as the son of Achamma and Magistrate P. M. Varkey and to the Anglican Syrian Christian Palathinkal family. After completing schooling in Travancore, Cherian went to

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 ...

in 1912, where he earned his MBBS degree in 1917. He then joined the Government Hospital for Women and Children as an Assistant Surgeon. He was later commissioned to the

Indian Medical Service The Indian Medical Service (IMS) was a military medical service in British India, which also had some civilian functions. It served during the two World Wars, and remained in existence until the independence of India in 1947. Many of its officer ...

, as part of the 88th Carnatic Infantry and served in various cities in

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...

. In 1925, Cherian went to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

to specialise in ear, nose and throat diseases and, in 1926, passed the FRCS examination from

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

. R. N. Arogyasamy Mudaliar, the Minister for Medical Administration (1926–28), he was keen to "indianise" medical services. So he appointed Cherian the first Indian Superintendent of Madras Medical College. Later, Cherian became Principal of the college and was appointed the first Indian

Surgeon General Surgeon general (: surgeons general) is a title used in several Commonwealth countries and most NATO nations to refer either to a senior military medical officer or to a senior uniformed physician commissioned by the government and entrusted with p ...

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 ...

Political career

After his retirement from the government medical service in 1948, Cherian became increasingly active in politics. He was an

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

of the Corporation of Madras in 1948 and, in 1950, became mayor of the city. His wife, Tara, whom he married in 1935, was elected to this office in 1956, making the Cherians the only couple to have held the office of the Mayor of Madras. Tara Cherian, who died in November 2000, was the first woman mayor of independent India and was herself a Member of the Legislative Council during M. G. Ramachandran's government. In 1952, Cherian was elected to the

Madras Legislative Council Tamil Nadu Legislative Council was the upper house of the former bicameral legislature of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It began its existence as Madras Legislative Council, the first provincial legislature for Madras Presidency. It was initia ...

and became its Chairman. He was re-elected to both the Council and its chairmanship in 1959. On 14 November 1964, P. V. Cherian was sworn in as the

. He was a well known figure in that position. As a Christian, he promoted

ecumenism Ecumenism ( ; alternatively spelled oecumenism)also called interdenominationalism, or ecumenicalismis the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships ...

. He was the president of the All India Conference of Indian Christians. At the same time, he was a high ranking rotarian and

freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

. In recognition of their services to the Indian Christian community, Dr. Cherian and his wife Tara were vested with the Pontifical Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great and the Benemerenti medal respectively, by

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...

. They are the first non-Catholic Indians to receive such Papal Orders. Tara Cherian was also awarded

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan (IAST: ''Padma Bhūṣaṇa'', lit. 'Lotus Decoration') is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 Januar ...

, the third highest civilian honour in India, for her social work. Governor Cherian died in office, on 9 November 1969, at the age of 76.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cherian, P. V 1893 births 1969 deaths Saint Thomas Christians Indian Anglicans Governors of Maharashtra Indian Medical Service officers Mayors of Chennai Medical doctors from Kerala Indian National Congress politicians from Tamil Nadu 20th-century Indian surgeons