Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan

Radhakrishnan was born on 5 September 1888 at Tirutani, the son of S. Veerasamiah. Official sources describe the birthplace only as a small town, and give differing state names, so no state is stated here. From 1896 his family sent him to the Hermannsburg Evangelical Lutheran Mission school. He later attended Voorhees College in Vellore and Madras Christian College, where he wrote a bachelor’s thesis defending Hinduism and the Vedanta system. He was married to S. Sivakamamma.

Radhakrishnan taught at the University of Mysore and then at Calcutta, where he was King George V Professor of Philosophy from 1921 to 1939. He was Vice-Chancellor of Andhra University from 1931 to 1936 and of Banaras Hindu University from 1939 to 1948, and held the Spalding Professorship of Eastern Religions and Ethics at Oxford. He presided over the Indian Philosophical Congress in 1927 and 1950. His books on philosophy and comparative religion included Indian Philosophy, The Hindu View of Life, An Idealist View of Life and editions of the Bhagavadgita, the Dhammapada and the Principal Upanishads.

Radhakrishnan chaired the University Education Commission of the Government of India in 1948–49 and was associated with UNESCO, including its Executive Board in 1948 and its General Conference sessions in 1952–54 and 1958. He chaired the Buddha Jayanti Committee in 1956. He served as India’s Ambassador to the Soviet Union from 1949 to 1952.

Radhakrishnan was elected the first Vice-President of India and served from 13 May 1952 to 12 May 1962, holding two terms as ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.

Radhakrishnan served as President from 13 May 1962 to 13 May 1967. He received the Bharat Ratna in 1954 and the Templeton Prize in 1975, which was accepted on his behalf by the Indian High Commissioner in London because of his age and illness. He died on 17 April 1975. His birthday, 5 September, is celebrated in India as Teachers’ Day.