Vellore Lakshmanaswamy Ethiraj (18 July 1890 – 18 August 1960) was an Indian lawyer and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

who founded

Ethiraj College for Women Ethiraj College for Women is an arts and science college for women in Chennai, India, managed by the Ethiraj College Trust. It was founded in 1948 by the barrister V. L. Ethiraj of Vellore. History Chairmen Source: * V. L. Ethiraj (1948–60 ...

, a college in

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 ...

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 ...

. He was the first Indian to be appointed as a

Crown Prosecutor Crown prosecutor is the title given in a number of jurisdictions to the state prosecutor, the legal party responsible for presenting the case against an individual in a criminal trial. The title is commonly used in Commonwealth realms. Examples * ...

by the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

. He also served as the President of the Madras Bar Association. Ethiraj was born on 18 July 1890 in a Arcot Mudaliar family of Vellore and was born to Lakshmanaswamy and Ammayi Ammal. V. L. Ethiraj received his undergraduate degree from

Presidency College, Chennai Presidency College is an art, commerce, and science college in the city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu, India. On 16 October 1840, this school was established as the Madras Preparatory School before being repurposed as a high school, and then a gra ...

and received his law degree from

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

. One of Ethiraj's successes was the

Lakshmikanthan murder case The Lakshmikanthan murder case was a high-profile criminal trial that was conducted in the then Madras Presidency between November 1944 and April 1947. The cause of the trial was the murder of C. N. Lakshmikanthan, a Tamil film journalist. Laks ...

, which he successfully fought in defense of Tamil actors

M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar Mayavaram Krishnasamy Thiyagaraja Bhagavathar (1 March 1910 – 1 November 1959), also known by his initials as M. K. T. was an Indian actor and carnatic singer. Critics and film historians acknowledge Bhagavathar as the "First superstar of Ta ...

and N. S. Krishnan. His advocacy was described by C. P. Ramaswami Iyer as "a marvel of the 20th century". He mentored a number of young lawyers in Madras including his nephew M. Narayan Moorthy, who later became a Justice on

Madras High Court The High Court of Judicature at Madras is a High Courts of India, High Court located in Chennai, India. It has appellate jurisdiction over the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry. It is one of ...

.Guy, Randor (1997), ''Memories of Madras : Its Movies, Musicians & Men of Letters'', pp. 462.

References

External links

Ethiraj College for Women
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ethiraj, V. L. 20th-century Indian lawyers 1890 births 1960 deaths Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Presidency College, Chennai alumni Tamil lawyers People from Vellore Founders of Indian schools and colleges 20th-century Indian educators Scholars from Chennai 20th-century Indian philanthropists

See also

References

External links