S. M. Diaz (1919 – 2000) was the Inspector-General of Police of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

. He was also a professor of economics and the first director of the

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy (SVPNPA) is the civil service training institution in India. The institute trains Indian Police Service (IPS) officers before they are sent to their respective state cadres to carry out their dut ...

that trains officers who are inducted into the

Indian Police Service The Indian Police Service (IPS) is a civil service under the All India Services. It replaced the Indian Imperial Police in 1948, a year after India became Partition of India, independent from the British Empire. Along with the Indian Admini ...

. He is known for translating the

Tirukkural The ''Tirukkuṟaḷ'' (), or shortly the ''Kural'' (), is a classic Tamil language text on commoner's morality consisting of 1,330 short couplets, or Kural (poetic form), kurals, of seven words each. The text is divided into three books wit ...

into

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

Biography

S. M. Diaz was born in

Manapad Manapad is a coastal village in south India, from Tuticorin and south of Tiruchendur. St. Francis Xavier came to Manapad in 1542, conducting missionary activity on the Pearl Fishery Coast. He lived in a grotto cavern on the seaward face of a c ...

, in 1919 in a

Paravar Paravar (also known as Bharathar or Bharathakula Kshatriyar) is a predominantly Catholic Tamil maritime community, mainly living in the state of Tamil Nadu, and in Sri Lanka. Historically, they were inhabitants of the ''Neithal'' (coastal) lands ...

family. He graduated in

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

from St. Joseph's College,

Tiruchirappalli Tiruchirappalli (), also known as Trichy, is a major tier II city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli district. The city is credited with being the best livable and the cleanest city of T ...

, obtaining an M.A. He began his career as a professor of mathematics at the same college. In 1949, Diaz topped the first batch at the National Police Academy,

Mt. Abu Mount Abu (), known as Arbudgiri in Jain tradition, is a hill station in the Aravalli Range in the Sirohi district of the state of Rajasthan in western India. Here, the mountain forms a rocky plateau 22 km long by 9 km wide. It is refe ...

. Later in 1975, he became the director of the academy and was instrumental in moving it to Hyderabad, where it was renamed Sardar Vallabhai Patel Police Academy. He also set up a police unit in the Mt. Abu campus comprising the service staff made redundant by the Academy's move. In 1977, Diaz organised the Department of Criminology at the

University of Madras The University of Madras is a public university, public State university (India), state university in Chennai (Madras), Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and most prominent universities in India, incorporated by an ...

, and headed the department until 1983, thereafter continuing his service as visiting professor. During this period, in his 70s, Diaz obtained his PhD in

criminology Criminology (from Latin , 'accusation', and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'', 'word, reason') is the interdisciplinary study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is a multidisciplinary field in both the behaviou ...

. In 1992, he founded the Probus Club of Madras. Diaz was an avid reader of the ''

Tirukkuṟaḷ The ''Tirukkuṟaḷ'' (), or shortly the ''Kural'' (), is a classic Tamil language text on commoner's morality consisting of 1,330 short couplets, or kurals, of seven words each. The text is divided into three books with aphoristic teaching ...

'', the ancient Tamil classic on

morality Morality () is the categorization of intentions, Decision-making, decisions and Social actions, actions into those that are ''proper'', or ''right'', and those that are ''improper'', or ''wrong''. Morality can be a body of standards or principle ...

. Along with his career-oriented works on prison reforms, social equality, women's empowerment and victimology, his complete English translation of the Kural text, which was published in two volumes, led to his being described as the "Philosopher-Policeman." He first translated Book I (''Aram'') of the Tirukkural and published it in 1982. In the next 10 years, he translated the second (''Porul'') and third books (''Inbam'') of the Kural text. In 2000, he published the entire translation in two volumes, which was published by N. Mahalingam of the Ramanandha Adigalar Foundation in

Coimbatore Coimbatore (Tamil: kōyamputtūr, ), also known as Kovai (), is one of the major Metropolitan cities of India, metropolitan cities in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Noyy ...

. It was reprinted four times within the next five years. Diaz was praised by former IGP of Tamil Nadu F.V. Arul for his bandobust scheme for the 1968 Mahamakam Festival in

Kumbakonam Kumbakonam (formerly spelt as Coombaconum or Combaconum), or Kudanthai, is a city municipal corporation in the Thanjavur district in the States of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located from Thanjavur and from Chennai and is the hea ...

, who described him as "an officer without crease in his uniform as in his conduct" in the terms of

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romanticism, Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician. His most famous works are the novels ''The Hunchbac ...

, who first used the phrase in ''Les Miserables'' to characterise Inspector

Javert Javert (), no first name given in the source novel, is a fictional character and a main antagonist of Victor Hugo's 1862 novel ''Les Misérables.'' He was presumably born in 1780 and died on June 7, 1832. First a prison guard, and then a police i ...

. Diaz retired as Inspector General of Prisons, Tamil Nadu. In 2000, he died in an accident at the Sardar Vallabhai Patel Police Academy's silver jubilee celebrations on the

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

campus.

Works

* S. M. Diaz. (2000). ''Thirukkural: English Translation and Explanation'' (2 vols.). Coimbatore: Ramananda Adigalar Foundation

Biography

Works

See also

References

Further reading