Sarvepalli Gopal (23 April 1923 – 20 April 2002) was a well-known

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 List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n historian. He was the son of

Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (; 5 September 188817 April 1975; natively Radhakrishna) was an Indian academician, philosopher and statesman who served as the President of India from 1962 to 1967. He previously served as the vice president of ...

, the first

Vice-President A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

and the second

President of India The president of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, and the commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the Indian Armed ...

. He was the author of the ''Radhakrishnan: A Biography'' and ''Jawaharlal Nehru: A Biography''.

Early life and education

Sarvepalli Gopal was born in

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 ...

, India, on 23 April 1923 into a middle-class family. He was the only son of S. Radhakrishnan, the first vice-president and second president of independent India, and Sivakamu. He had five sisters. Gopal was educated at

Mill Hill School Mill Hill School is a 13–18 co-educational Private schools in the United Kingdom, private, Day school, day and boarding school in Mill Hill, London, England that was established in 1807. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' ...

in London and at the

Madras Christian College Madras Christian College (MCC) is a liberal arts and sciences college in Chennai, India. Founded in 1837, MCC is one of Asia's oldest extant colleges. The college is affiliated to the University of Madras but functions as an autonomous institut ...

. He was an undergraduate student of history at

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and aro ...

, where he won the Curzon Prize. He continued as a student at Balliol earning his

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

on the viceroyalty of Lord Ripon in 1951.

Career

Subsequently, he was appointed as a Director in the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, in the 1950s, where he worked closely with

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a pr ...

. In the 1960s, he was a Reader in Indian History at

St Antony's College, Oxford St Antony's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1950 as the result of the gift of French merchant Sir Antonin Besse of Aden, St Antony's specialises in international relations, economics, politic ...

. When the new

Jawaharlal Nehru University Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU; ISO: Javāharalāla Neharū Viśvavidyālaya) is a public research university located in Delhi, India. It was established in 1969 and named after Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister. The university ...

was founded by the then

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 ...

, he was appointed as a

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

of History at the Centre for Historical Studies, which he helped in setting up. In the 1970s, he was a

Chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

of the National Book Trust,

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

Death

Gopal died due to

kidney failure Kidney failure, also known as renal failure or end-stage renal disease (ESRD), is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney fa ...

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

on 20 April 2002, three days before his 79th birthday.

Publications

Books

*''History of Humanity: Scientific and Cultural Development, Vol. 7: The Twentieth Century'', (Paris: UNESCO, Routledge, 2008) (co-author Tichvinskii, Sergei Leonidovich) *''Jawaharlal Nehru: A Biography'', (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2004) *''The Essential Writings of Jawaharlal Nehru'', (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2003) (co-author Uma Iyengar) *''Anatomy of Confrontation: The Babri Masjid Ramjanmabhumi Issue'', (New Delhi: Viking, 1991) *''Radhakrishnan: A Biography'', (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1992) *''Economy, Society and Development: Essays and Reflections in Honour of Malcolm Adesheshiah'', (New Delhi: Sage, 1991) (co-authors Kurien, C.T., E.R. Prabhakar) *''Jawaharlal Nehru: An Anthology'', (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1983) *''Selected Works of Jawaharlal Nehru'', (New Delhi: Orient Longman, 1972–82) (co-authors Chalapatti Rau, M., Sharada Prasad, H.Y., Nanda, B.R.) *''British Policy in India, 1858-1905'', (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1965) *''Modern India'', (London: Historical Association, 1967) *''The Viceroyalty of Lord Irwin, 1926-1931'', (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1957) *''The Viceroyalty of Lord Ripon, 1880-1884'', (London: Oxford University Press, 1953) *''The Permanent Settlement in Bengal and its Result'', (London, G.Allen and Unwin, 1949)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gopal, Sarvapalli 1923 births 2002 deaths 20th-century Indian historians Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Children of presidents of India Deaths from kidney failure in India Fellows of St Antony's College, Oxford Historians of South Asia Indian civil servants Academic staff of Jawaharlal Nehru University Madras Christian College alumni People educated at Mill Hill School Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in literature & education Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in English Scholars from Chennai Telugu people University of Madras alumni