V. R. Krishnan Ezhuthachan (1909–2004) was an Indian freedom fighter,

Gandhian The followers of Mahatma Gandhi,one of the prominent figure of the Indian independence movement, are called Gandhians. Gandhi's legacy includes a wide range of ideas ranging from his dream of ideal India (or ''Rama Rajya)'', economics, environ ...

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

, trade unionist and

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

leader from

Thrissur Thrissur (, ), Renaming of cities in India, formerly Trichur, also known by its historical name Thrissivaperur, is a city and the headquarters of the Thrissur district in Kerala, India. It is the List of most populous urban agglomerations in Ke ...

city in

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

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 ...

. Ezhuthachan was the founder general secretary of the Kochi Rajya Prajamandalam party which was constituted on 26 January 1941. He is also founder of the now defunct ''

Deenabandhu Deenabandhu is a defunct Malayalam language newspaper printed daily and published from the Thrissur city, Kerala in India. The newspaper was the first periodicals published from Kingdom of Cochin which supported the Indian Independence Moveme ...

'' daily published from

Personal life

V. R. Krishnan Ezhuthachan was born in Avinissery,

on 25 April 1909. As the tenth son of Vadakkoot Nelliparambil Raman Ezhuthachan and Njarasseri valappil Lakshmi amma. He completed his primary education from ezhuthupura (old traditional village school) which functioned in his own home. After passing the 10th grade securing a gold medal, he completed graduation in

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

and law (BL) by securing rank. When

Gandhiji Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

arrived Thrissur in 1925, Ezhuthachan met him and then stepped into the freedom struggle. P. Kumaran Ezhuthachan, an active member of the Cochin State Congress Party, was his mentor in politics. With the formation and activities of Kochi Rajya Prajamandalam, Ezhuthachan made his own identity in the field of politics.

The formation of Kochi Rajya Prajamandalam

A group of young people who were displeased with the functioning of political movements in the erstwhile Kochi state, in the meeting held on 26 January 1941 under the leadership of Ezhuthachan, decided to form the Kochi Rajya Prajamandalam. 'To end the sovereignty of Cochin king and to form responsible government' was the main objective. On 9 February 1941 Prajamandalam formed with Ezhuthachan as founder general secretary. To help the people of the Kingdom of Cochin from ravages caused due to the flooding in 1941, Prajamandalam formed the Cochin flood relief committee; Ezhuthachan and C. Achutha Menon were secretaries. Ezhuthachan actively worked in this organisation by collecting donations and distributing

brochure A brochure is an promotional document primarily used to introduce a company, organization, products, or services and inform prospective customers or members of the public of the benefits. Although, initially, a paper document that can be folded ...

s about calamities throughout the Kingdom of Cochin.

Cochin karshaka sabha

With the objective of ending difficulties faced by farmers due to

feudalism Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of struc ...

, an organisation called formed with Ezhuthachan as president and C. Achutha Menon as secretary. Brochures about the difficulties of farmers were distributed by the organisation. stood for permanent ownership for farmers in their field. Their protests caused acceptance of the bill on 13 February 1943 at the

Cochin Legislative Council The Cochin Legislative Council was a unicameral legislative body of the Cochin State that functioned from 1925 to 1948 before the merger of Cochin and Travancore to form the Travancore–Cochin state and the Travancore–Cochin Legislative Assem ...

. In 1944, part of the restructuring of the Prajamandalam,

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

sympathizers abandoned membership in Prajamandalam. After this incident was divided into two, with All Cochin Kisan Congress with Ezhuthachan as its leader and with C. Achutha Menon as its leader. Later All Cochin Kisan Congress merged to ''All India Kisan Congress''. In January 1942 Prajamandalam decided to conduct the first annual meeting at

Irinjalakuda Irinjalakuda is a municipal town in Thrissur district, Kerala, India. It is the headquarters of Irinjalakuda Revenue Division, Thrissur Rural Police and Mukundapuram Taluk. After Thrissur, this town has most number of administrative, law-enfor ...

. Diwan A. F. W. Dixon banned it due to the resentment caused towards the king by the activities of Prajamandalam and . As a consequence of the ban, many leaders of Praja Mandala were arrested, including Ezhuthachan. Leaders who came forward to conduct the meeting were arrested at the meeting place by the police sent by Diwan. Leaders like K. Karunakaran were arrested and faced brutal torture in jail. Avinissery was one of the main weaving centres of

. Ezhuthachan actively worked in the association, an organisation to spread the use of

khadi Khadi (, ), derived from khaddar, is a hand-spun and woven natural fibre cloth promoted by Mahatma Gandhi, Gandhi as Swadeshi movement, ''swadeshi (of homeland)'' for the freedom struggle of India and the term is used throughout the Indian sub ...

. He also worked actively in the formation of khadi weaving centres in Thrissur and

Ernakulam Ernakulam () is the central business district of the city of Kochi, Kerala, India. It is the namesake of Ernakulam district. The eastern part of Kochi city is mainly known as Ernakulam, while the western part of it after the Venduruthy Bridge ...

. In connection with the Quit India movement, on 5 August 1942 a conference was conducted under the leadership of

and

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 prin ...

for All India Congress Committee at

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

. Ezhuthachan and S.Neelakanda Iyer attended the conference by representing Prajamandalam. As part of the Quit India movement Prajamandalam actively participated in strikes. During that time there was a strong ban in functioning of the

press Press may refer to: Media * Publisher * News media * Printing press, commonly called "the press" * Press TV, an Iranian television network Newspapers United States * ''The Press'', a former name of ''The Press-Enterprise'', Riverside, California ...

, Prajamandalam started a newspaper called ''

'' with Ezhuthachan as

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

. With the intention of saving people from financial crisis caused due to 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 ...

, an organisation called was formed. Ezhuthachan worked as secretary of this organisation in Thrissur. During the spread of fifth fever and

cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

, actively worked to prevent its spread.

When Prajamandalam decided to face election in 1945, Ezhuthachan was unanimously elected to the Cochin Legislative Council. Ezhuthachan was a member of the Travancore-Cochin legislative council representing

Nemmara Nemmara is a town in Palakkad district, Kerala, India. It is administered by the Nemmara Grama Panchayat. The town hosts Nemmara Vallanghy Vela one of the popular annual festival in the state with fireworks as the major attraction. Nemmara is ...

. Ezhuthachan married Lakshmi Bhai, daughter of his political mentor and active congress politician P. Kumaran Ezhuthachan. He died in 2004 at the age of 95 due to age-related diseases. In 2009 as a part of V.R. Krishnan Ezhuthachan's (birth centennial) celebration, M.P. Veerendra Kumar received the V.R. Krishananezhuthachan Janmashadabdhi Award. Ezhuthachan gave leadership to a caste-based organisation called '' Ezhuthachan samajam.'' To honor his activity, a law college founded by was named after him.

Recognition

The nation honored Ezhuthachan with ''Thamarapathra'' for his excellent service in the

Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events in South Asia with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British colonial rule. It lasted until 1947, when the Indian Independence Act 1947 was passed. The first nationalistic ...

. Other major awards include 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 ...

Award for the study in 1931. He was given the ''Sadanandan'' Award and Prof. K. M. Chandy Award for contributions in the field of

cooperative movement in India The cooperative movement in India plays a crucial role in the agricultural sector, banking and housing. The history of cooperatives in India is more than a hundred years old. Cooperatives developed very rapidly after Indian independence. According ...

. Ezhuthachan was also given by the Kerala Press Foundation, the ''Ramasrama'' award for excellent service in the social and literature fields, the Thissur ''Sahrudaya Vedhi'' award, and the ''Tomyas'' award.

Literature

Ezhuthachan has contributions in the field of

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

also; he was a poet. He received the

Kerala Sahitya Akademi The Kerala Sahitya Akademi or Academy for Malayalam Literature is an autonomous body established to promote the Malayalam language and Malayalam literature, literature. It is situated in the city of Thrissur, Kerala in India. History The acad ...

award for his autobiography ' in 2000.Works
that won

award for Biography/Autobiography.

Other works

* * * (translation) * ''Vishwacharithraavalokanam'' (translation of Glimpses of World History by

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 ...

) * (translation of Ashok Metha's ''Communal triangle'') * ''Kochikkoru abhivruddhi paddhathi'' * (compilation of Krishnan Ezhuthachan's speeches in legislative assembly) In addition, Ezhuthachan co-authored a book named about the history of the Kingdom of Cochin.