Sir Sonti Venkata Ramamurthy KCIE (1 August 1888 - 19 January 1964) was an Indian civil servant who served as Chief Secretary to the Government of

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 ...

from 1939 to 1943 and as advisor to the Madras government from 1941 to 1945. He was the first Indian to be appointed Chief Secretary of Madras. Ramamurthy also acted as the

Governor of Bombay Presidency Until the 18th century, Bombay consisted of Seven islands of Bombay, seven islands separated by shallow sea. These seven islands were part of a larger archipelago in the Arabian sea, off the western coast of India. The date of city's founding is ...

from 19 May 1947 to 30 May 1947.

Early life and education

Born in

Vizagapatam Visakhapatnam (; formerly known as Vizagapatam, and also referred to as Vizag, Visakha, and Waltair) is the largest and most populous metropolitan city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is between the Eastern Ghats and the coast of t ...

on 1 August 1888, Ramamurthy studied at the London Mission High School and after graduating from

Madras University 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 ...

, did his masters' at the

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

. Ramamurthy passed the

Indian Civil Service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British Raj, British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 3 ...

examinations in 1911 and was allocated to the Madras Presidency. During his stay in Cambridge, Ramamurthy gained a reputation for his mathematical abilities.

Career

Ramamurthy joined the Indian Civil Service in November 1911 and served his entire career in the Madras Presidency, In 1923, he was appointed

District Collector The district magistrate, also known as the district collector or deputy commissioner, is a career civil servant who serves as the executive head of a district's administration in India. The specific name depends on the state or union territo ...

Ramnad Ramanathapuram (), also known as Ramnad, is a city Municipal Corporation in Ramanathapuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of Ramanathapuram district and the second largest town (by population) ...

. In September 1927, he succeeded H. S. Shield as the District Collector of

Tanjore district Thanjavur District is one of the 38 districts of the state of Tamil Nadu, in southeastern India. Its headquarters is Thanjavur (Tanjore) . The district is located in the delta of the Cauvery River and is mostly agrarian. Geography The dis ...

, the second native Indian to be appointed to the post. In 1928, he was appointed Secretary of the Development Department of Madras Presidency and served a short stint as the Director of Agriculture before being appointed District Collector of Salem. In 1937, Ramamurthy was removed as District Collector of Salem at the insistence of the Premier,

C. Rajagopalachari Chakravarti Rajagopalachari (10 December 1878 – 25 December 1972), popularly known as Rajaji or C.R., also known as Mootharignar Rajaji (Rajaji'', the Scholar Emeritus''), was an Indian statesman, writer, lawyer, and Indian independence ...

and replaced with an Englishman, A. F. W. Dixon, who achieved remarkable success in imposing prohibition in Salem district. Ramamurthy responded when, appointed to head a commission after the Governor had dismissed Rajaji's government, he recommended the abolition of prohibition throughout the province. In 1939, Ramamurthy was appointed Chief Secretary to the Madras government, the first Indian to occupy the post. He served till 1941 during the time when the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

broke out and introduced food rationing in the province. He retired as advisor to the Madras government in 1946.

Later life

Following his retirement, Ramamurthy accepted an invitation to act as the

Governor of Bombay Until the 18th century, Bombay consisted of seven islands separated by shallow sea. These seven islands were part of a larger archipelago in the Arabian sea, off the western coast of India. The date of city's founding is unclear—historians tr ...

for a few days. Later that year, he accepted an appointment as the Diwan of

Udaipur State The Kingdom of Mewar was an independent Hindu Monarchy, kingdom that existed in the Rajputana region of the Indian subcontinent and later became a dominant state in medieval India. The kingdom was initially founded and ruled by the Guhila dyna ...

. Ramamurthy served for a year and oversaw the state's

accession to the Indian Union The Instrument of Accession was a legal document first introduced by the Government of India Act 1935 and used in 1947 to enable each of the rulers of the princely states under British paramountcy to join one of the new dominions of India or ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramamurthy, S. V. 1888 births 1964 deaths Knights Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire Indian knights Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Indian Civil Service (British India) officers