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Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan సర్వేపల్లి రాధాకృష్ణ BR Kt OM FBA
President of India
In office 13 May 1962 – 13 May 1967
Prime Minister	Jawaharlal Nehru Gulzarilal Nanda (Acting) Lal Bahadur Shastri Gulzarilal Nanda (Acting) Indira Gandhi
Vice President	Zakir Hussain
Preceded by	Rajendra Prasad
Succeeded by	Zakir Hussain
Vice President of India
In office 13 May 1952 – 12 May 1962
President	Rajendra Prasad
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Zakir Hussain
Personal details
Born	(1888-09-05)5 September 1888 Thiruttani, Tamil Nadu, India
Died	17 April 1975(1975-04-17) (aged 86) Chennai, India
Political party	Independent
Spouse(s)	Sivakamu, Lady Radhakrishnan
Children	Five daughters One son
Alma mater	Voorhees College Madras Christian College
Profession	Philosopher Professor
Religion	Hinduism

Dr Sir Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan^[1]  pronunciation (help·info), OM, FBA (Telugu: సర్వేపల్లి రాధాకృష్ణ; 5 September 1888, Tiruttani, Tamil Nadu – 17 April 1975) was a scholar and statesman who was President of India from 1962 to 1967. He was the first Vice President of India (1952–1962).

One of India's most influential scholars of comparative religion and philosophy, Radhakrishnan is thought of as having built a bridge between the East and the West by showing that the philosophical systems of each tradition are comprehensible within the terms of the other. He wrote authoritative exegeses of India's religious and philosophical literature for the English speaking world. His academic appointments included the King George V Chair of Mental and Moral Science at the University of Calcutta (1921–1931) and Spalding Professor of Eastern Religion and Ethics at Oxford University (1936–1952).

Among the many honours he received were a knighthood (1931), the Bharat Ratna (1954) and the Order of Merit in 1963. His birthday is celebrated in India as Teachers' Day on 5 September.

Early life and education[link]

Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was born in a poor Telugu Niyogi family at Tiruttani, a town in then Madras Presidency, British India, now in Thiruvallur District, Tamil Nadu, 84 km to the northwest of Madras (now Chennai). His mother tongue was Telugu.^[2] His father's name was Sarvepalli Veeraswami^[2] and his mother's name was Sitamma.^[2] His early years were spent in Tirutani and Tirupati. His father was a subordinate revenue official in the service of a local zamindar (landlord). His primary education was at Primary Board High School at Tirutani. In 1896 he moved to the Hermansburg Evangelical Lutheral Mission School in Tirupati.^[3]

Radhakrishnan was awarded scholarships throughout his academic life. He joined Voorhees College in Vellore but switched to the Madras Christian College at the age of 17. He graduated from there in 1906 with a Master's degree in Philosophy, being one of its most distinguished alumni.^[4] Radhakrishnan wrote his thesis for the M.A. degree on "The Ethics of the Vedanta and its Metaphysical Presuppositions".^[5] He was afraid that this M.A. thesis would offend his philosophy professor, Dr. Alfred George Hogg. Instead, Hogg commended Radhakrishnan on doing an excellent job.^{[citation needed]} Radhakrishnan's M.A. thesis was published when he was only 20.

Radhakrishnan studied philosophy by chance rather than by choice. Being a financially constrained student at the time, when a cousin, after graduating from the same college, passed on his textbooks in philosophy to Radhakrishnan, it automatically decided his academic course.^[6][7] Later on he felt deep interest in his subject and wrote many acclaimed works on philosophy, both Eastern and Western.

Marriage[link]

Radhakrishnan was married to Sivakamu,^[8] a distant cousin, at the age of 16.^[9] As per tradition the marriage was arranged by the family. The couple had five daughters and a son, Sarvepalli Gopal. Sarvepalli Gopal went on to a notable career as a historian. Sivakami died in 1956. They were married for over 51 years.^[10]

Career[link]

Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan drawn by Bujjai and signed by Radhakrishnan in Telugu as "Radhakrishnaiah".

In April 1909,Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was appointed to the Department of Philosophy at the Madras Presidency College. Thereafter, in 1918, Radhakrishnan was selected as Professor of Philosophy by the University of Mysore. By that time he had written many articles for journals of repute like The Quest, Journal of Philosophy and the International Journal of Ethics. He also completed his first book, The Philosophy of Rabindranath Tagore. He believed Tagore's philosophy to be the "genuine manifestation of the Indian spirit". Radhakrishnan's second book, The Reign of Religion in Contemporary Philosophy was published in 1920.

In 1921 he was appointed as a professor in philosophy to occupy the King George V Chair of Mental and Moral Science at the University of Calcutta. Radhakrishnan represented the University of Calcutta at the Congress of the Universities of the British Empire in June 1926 and the International Congress of Philosophy at Harvard University in September 1926. Another important academic event during this period was the invitation to deliver the Hibbert Lecture on the ideals of life which he delivered at Harris Manchester College, Oxford in 1929 and which was subsequently published in book form as An Idealist View of Life.

In 1929 Radhakrishnan was invited to take the post vacated by Principal J. Estlin Carpenter at Harris Manchester College. This gave him the opportunity to lecture to the students of the University of Oxford on Comparative Religion. For his services to education he was knighted by George V in the June 1931 Birthday Honours,^[11] and formally invested with his honour by the Governor-General of India, the Earl of Willingdon, in April 1932.^[12] However, he ceased to use the title after Indian independence,^[13]:9 preferring instead his academic title of 'Doctor'.

He was the Vice-Chancellor of Andhra University from 1931 to 1936. In 1936 Radhakrishnan was named Spalding Professor of Eastern Religions and Ethics at the University of Oxford, and was elected a Fellow of All Souls College. In 1939 Pt. Madan Mohan Malaviya invited him to succeed him as the Vice-Chancellor of Banaras Hindu University (BHU).^[14] He served as its Vice-Chancellor till January 1948.

When India became independent in 1947, Radhakrishnan represented India at UNESCO (1946–52) and was later Ambassador of India to the Soviet Union, from 1949 to 1952. He was also elected to the Constituent Assembly of India.

Radhakrishnan was elected as the first Vice President of India in 1952.^[10] He was elected as the second President of India (1962–1967). When he became President, some of his students and friends requested him to allow them to celebrate his birthday, 5 September. He replied,

"Instead of celebrating my birthday, it would be my proud privilege if 5 September is observed as Teachers' Day."

His birthday has since been celebrated as Teachers' Day in India.^[15]

Along with Ghanshyam Das Birla and some other social workers in the pre-independence era, Radhakrishnan formed the Krishnarpan Charity Trust.

Philosophy[link]

Radhakrishnan stated that Western philosophers, despite all claims to objectivity, were influenced by theological influences of their own culture.^[16] He wrote books on Indian philosophy according to Western academic standards, and made all efforts for the West to give serious consideration to Indian philosophy. In his book An Idealist View of Life, he made a powerful case for the importance of intuitive thinking as opposed to purely intellectual forms of thought. He is well known for his commentaries on the Prasthana Trayi namely, the Bhagavadgita, the Upanishads and the Brahma Sutra.

"Reading a book gives us the habit of solitary reflection and true enjoyment" "When we think we learn we cease to know" "A literary genius, it is said, resembles all, though no one resembles him."

Awards[link]

Radhakrishnan was appointed a Knight Bachelor in 1931.^[11] He was elected Fellow of the British Academy in 1938. He was awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1954^[17] and the Order of Merit in 1963. He received the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade in 1961 and the Templeton Prize in 1975, a few months before his death. He donated the entire amount of the Templeton Prize to Oxford University. In 1989, the university instituted the Radhakrishnan Scholarships in his memory. The scholarships were later renamed the "Radhakrishnan Chevening Scholarships".^{[citation needed]}

Radhakrishnan was nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature for five consecutive years from 1933–1937, although he did not win. His nominator was Hjalmar Hammarskjöld, father of Dag Hammarskjöld.^[18]

Works by Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan[link]

• Indian Philosophy (1923) Vol.1, 738 pages. Vol 2, 807 pages. Oxford University Press.
• The Hindu View of Life (1926), 92 pages
• An Idealist View of Life (1929), 351 pages

• Review: E.A. Burtt (Cornell University), The Philosophical Review, Vol. 44, No. 2, (Mar., 1935), pp. 205–207

"Those who have read the author's previous volumes or have heard him speak are accustomed to associate with him warmth and vigor of style, penetrating flashes of keen analysis, and detailed familiarity with past and present philosophies in both east and west. In these respects none will find the book disappointing."

• Eastern Religions and Western Thought (1939), Oxford University Press, 396 pages
• Religion and Society (1947), George Allen and Unwin Ltd., London, 242 pages
• The Bhagavadgītā: with an introductory essay, Sanskrit text, English translation and notes (1948), 388 pages
• The Dhammapada (1950), 194 pages, Oxford University Press
• The Principal Upanishads (1953), 958 pages, HarperCollins Publishers Limited
• Recovery of Faith (1956), 205 pages
• A Source Book in Indian Philosophy (1957), 683 pages, Princeton University Press

• Review: E.A. Burtt (Cornell University), The Philosophical Review, Vol. 67, No. 3, (July 1958), pp. 411–412

"I believe this is the first time I have written a review when no negative criticism of any kind seemed to me warranted. ... No one interested in Indian thought who does not expect to master the original materials can dispense with this book."

• Religion, Science & Culture (1968), 121 pages

Works on Radhakrishnan[link]

Several books have been published on Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan:

References[link]

Anand, Mamta. S. Radhakrishnan His Life and Works. New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers and Distributors. 2006. Print.

External links[link]

Wikisource has original works written by or about: Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan

• "The Legend of Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan"
• "Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan- The philosopher president", Press Information Bureau, Government of India
• "Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1888—1975)" by Michael Hawley, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

v t e Presidents of India Prasad Radhakrishnan Hussain Giri Ahmed Reddy Singh Venkatraman Sharma Narayanan Kalam Patil

v t e Vice Presidents of India Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan · Zakir Hussain · V. V. Giri · Gopal Swarup Pathak · Basappa Danappa Jatti · Muhammad Hidayatullah · R. Venkataraman · Shankar Dayal Sharma · K. R. Narayanan · Krishan Kant · Bhairon Singh Shekhawat · Mohammad Hamid Ansari

v t e Bharat Ratna laureates Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1954) C. Rajagopalachari (1954) C. V. Raman (1954) Bhagwan Das (1955) Mokshagundam Visvesvarayya (1955) Jawaharlal Nehru (1955) Govind Ballabh Pant (1957) Dhondo Keshav Karve (1958) Bidhan Chandra Roy (1961) Purushottam Das Tandon (1961) Dr. Rajendra Prasad (1962) Dr. Zakir Hussain (1963) Pandurang Vaman Kane (1963) Lal Bahadur Shastri (1966) Indira Gandhi (1971) V. V. Giri (1975) K. Kamaraj (1976) Mother Teresa (1980) Acharya Vinoba Bhave (1983) Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (1987) M. G. Ramachandran (1988) B. R. Ambedkar (1990) Nelson Mandela (1990) Rajiv Gandhi (1991) Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (1991) Morarji Desai (1991) Abul Kalam Azad (1992) J. R. D. Tata (1992) Satyajit Ray (1992) A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (1997) Gulzarilal Nanda (1997) Aruna Asaf Ali (1997) M. S. Subbulakshmi (1998) Chidambaram Subramaniam (1998) Jayaprakash Narayan (1998) Ravi Shankar (1999) Amartya Sen (1999) Gopinath Bordoloi (1999) Lata Mangeshkar (2001) Bismillah Khan (2001) Bhimsen Joshi (2008)

Sarvepalli is a village in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh, India and the ancestral village of Indian President (1962-1967) Radhakrishnan.

Assembly constituency[link]

Sarvepalli is an assembly constituency in Andhra Pradesh.

List of Elected Members:^[1]

• 1955 - Vangallu Kodandarami Reddy
• 1962 - V Venku Reddy
• 1967 - Swarna Vemiah
• 1972 - Mangalagiri Nanadas
• 1983 - Pechalareddy Chenna Reddy
• 1978 and 1989 - Chitturu Venkata Sesha Reddy
• 1985 - Eduru Ramakrishna Reddy
• 1994 and 1999 - Somireddy Chandra Mohana Reddy
• 2004 - Adala Prabhakar Reddy

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikisource has original works written by or about: Sarvepalli

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Sarvepalli

• "The Legend of Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan"

Mohammad Hamid Ansari محمد حامد انصاری मोहम्मद हामिद अंसारी
Vice President of India
Incumbent
Assumed office 11 August 2007
President	Pratibha Patil
Preceded by	Bhairon Singh Shekhawat
Personal details
Born	(1937-04-01) 1 April 1937 (age 75) Kolkata, India
Political party	Indian National Congress
Spouse(s)	Salma Ansari
Alma mater	University of Calcutta Aligarh Muslim University
Profession	Diplomat Academician
Religion	Islam

Mohammad Hamid Ansari (Urdu: محمد حامد انصاری, Hindi: मोहम्मद हामिद अंसारी; born 1 April 1937) is the 12th and current Vice President of India. He also presently serves as President of the Indian Institute of Public Administration and Chancellor of Panjab University, Chandigarh.

Ansari worked as an ambassador and served as Vice-Chancellor of the Aligarh Muslim University from 2000 to 2002.^[1] Later he was Chairman of the National Commission for Minorities^[1] from 2006 to 2007. He was elected as Vice President of India on 10 August 2007 and took office on 11 August 2007.

Early life and career[link]

Ansari was born in Calcutta (now Kolkata) on 1 April 1937 though his family belongs to Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh. He is the grand nephew of former Congress President Mukhtar Ahmad Ansari, a leader of the Indian independence movement. Ansari studied at Shimla's St. Edwards High School, the St. Xavier's College of the University of Calcutta and at the Aligarh Muslim University. He started his career as a civil servant in the Indian Foreign Service in 1961. He was Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations, Indian High Commissioner to Australia and Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, Iran and Saudi Arabia. He was awarded the Padma Shree in 1984.^[2] He was also the Vice-Chancellor of the Aligarh Muslim University from May 2000 to March 2002. He is known for his role in ensuring compensation to the victims of the Gujarat riots and pushing for a complete re-look into the relief and rehabilitation for riot victims since 1984.^[3]

Other activities and NCM[link]

Ansari is a renowned West Asia scholar and has written trenchantly on the Palestinian issue and taken positions inconvenient to the Indian official line on Iraq and Iran. He questioned India’s vote in the International Atomic Energy Agency on Iran’s nuclear programme where India voted against Iran. He said that though the Indian Government claimed to have acted on "its own judgment," this was not borne out by facts.^[4]

He is the author of the book Travelling Through Conflict.

Ansari was the chairman of a working group on "Confidence building measures across segments of society in the State," established by the Second round Table Conference of the Prime Minister on Jammu and Kashmir in 2006. The report of the working group was adopted by the Third round Table in April 2007. Among other things, the report advocates recognising the right of Kashmiri Pandits to return to “places of their original residence.” This right, it argued, should be recognised without any ambiguity and made a part of state policy.^[4]

Ansari became the chairman of India's National Commission for Minorities (NCM) on 6 March 2006.^[5] In June 2007, Ansari, in his capacity as NCM chairman, upheld the decision of India's premier educational institution, St. Stephens College, to earmark a small percentage of seats for Dalit Christians.^[6] Ansari resigned as NCM chairman soon after his nomination for the post of India's Vice President.

He edited a book titled Iran Today: Twenty – five Years after the Islamic Revolution (ISBN 81-291-0774-0).

2007 vice-presidential election[link]

On 20 July 2007, Ansari was named by the UPA-Left, the ruling coalition in India, as its candidate for the post of Vice President for the upcoming election. When asked, Ansari said he felt "humbled" over the UPA-Left decision naming him as their candidate. "I am humbled by the confidence reposed in me". Ansari refused to say more when asked about his prospects in the August 2007 vice Presidential election.^[7]

Ansari secured 455 votes, and won the election by a margin of 233 votes against his nearest rival Najma Heptullah.

Quotes[link]

• "The language used by the Pope sounds like that of his 12th-Century counterpart who ordered the crusades... It surprises me because the Vatican has a very comprehensive relationship with the Muslim world." – 15 September 2006, as Chairman of the Minorities Commission of India, on the Pope Benedict XVI Islam controversy.^[8]
• "No citizen is apolitical; as a citizen, by definition, has to take interest in public affairs.” – 10 August 2007, after being elected Vice-President, on being asked whether he is apolitical.^[9]

See also[link]

• Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari
• Sibakatullah Ansari
• Mukhtar Ansari
• Afzal Ansari
• Ibn Sina Academy of Medieval Medicine and Sciences
• List of Vice-Presidents of India
• Vice-President of India

Notes[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mohammad Hamid Ansari

• Profile at Indian Government website
• Iran Today: Twenty – five Years after the Islamic Revolution (Rupa, New Delhi,2005) (ISBN 81-291-0774-0)
• Ansari:Shares Left leanings and is also close to Congress bosses
• Hamid Ansari: versatile scholar, statesman

v t e Vice Presidents of India Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan · Zakir Hussain · V. V. Giri · Gopal Swarup Pathak · Basappa Danappa Jatti · Muhammad Hidayatullah · R. Venkataraman · Shankar Dayal Sharma · K. R. Narayanan · Krishan Kant · Bhairon Singh Shekhawat · Mohammad Hamid Ansari