Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Short Biography
As you know that Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was the first Vice President and second President of Independent India and hence his name has been written in golden letters in the history of India.
He had a lot of knowledge about philosophy, Radhakrishnan started western culture in Indian philosophy. And along with this, he was also a famous teacher, therefore, in his memory, Teacher’s Day is celebrated every year on the 5th of September in India.
If we talk about the twentieth-century scholars, so his name is at the top among all other scholars. His dream was to spread Hinduism in western civilization.
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan tried to spread Hinduism to the whole of India and western countries, he wanted to merge Indian and Western civilization. He used to say that the mind of a teacher should be the best in the country because teachers contribute a lot to develop a country.
Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan biography
| Date of birth | 5 September 1888 |
| Collage | Madras Christian College |
| Religion | Hinduism |
| Death | 17 April 1975 |
| Children | 5 daughters and 1 son |
He was born on 5 September 1888 in Tirumani, a small village in Tamil Nadu and he was Brahmin by the cast. Radhakrishnan’s father’s name was sarvepalli veeraswami, Although he was a poor man but was a visionary Brahmin. Radhakrishnan’s father used to have all the responsibilities of the family, and for this reason, Radhakrishnan could not get enough facilities from his childhood.
At that time child marriage was common, so Radhakrishnan also married his cousin Sivakamu at the age of 16. And from that wife, he had five daughters and a son. He named his son Sarvepalli Gopal, who later became a great historian of India. Radhakrishnan’s wife died in 1956.
And perhaps you will be surprised to know that VVS Laxman, a former cricket player of the Indian cricket team, belongs to Radhakrishnan’s family.
Education
Dr. Radhakrishnan spent his childhood in Tirumani village. And his schooling was started in Tirumani village. After the completion of elementary education, Radhakrishnan’s father made his admission to the Christian missionary institution Lutheran Mission School, Tirupati. And there he lived from the year 1896 to 1900.
In the year 1900, Radhakrishnan did his education from the college in Vellore. Then he completed his further education at Madras Christian College. He was a meritorious student since childhood. And after this, Sarvepalli did M.A in Philosophy in 1906. However, he was getting scholarships in the field of education all his life.
Career
In the year 1909 Radhakrishnan was appointed as a teacher of philosophy in the Madras Presidency College
In the year 1916, he became an assistant professor of philosophy in the Madras Presidency College.
Radhakrishnan was made Professor in Philosophy by the University of Mysore in the year 1918.
After that, he was appointed teacher of Indian Philosophy at Oxford University, England.
Dr. Radhakrishnan used to give a lot of importance to education. Therefore he was such a great teacher, he was always down to learn something new.
The college from which he obtained his M.A degree was later made the vice-chancellor of the same college. But he left that college within a year and became the vice-chancellor at Banaras University. During that time, many books of philosophy were also written by him.
Radhakrishnan considered swami Vivekananda and Savarkar as his role models. He studied about both of them.
He also tried to familiarize the whole world with Indian philosophy through his articles and speeches. Dr. Radhakrishnan may be rich in talent but he also loved the culture of the country.
Political career
His political journey began after finishing his successful academic career.
In 1947, when India became independent, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru appealed to Radhakrishnan to fulfill diplomatic work with the Soviet Union as a distinguished ambassador of India.
He worked as a member of the Constituent Assembly from 1947 to 1949, he had accepted Pandit Nehru’s appeal, However, all the people of Parliament liked his way of functioning.
He was the Vice President of India from the year 1952 to 1962. And on 13 May 1962, he was elected the President of India.
Sarvepalli’s presidential career was very challenging as compared to Dr. Rajendra Prasad because at that time India’s war was fought with China and Pakistan, in which China defeated India. And on the other hand, two Prime Ministers of India also died during Radhakrishnan’s tenure.
Awards and honors
- He had contributed a lot in the field of education and politics, so he was awarded the “Bharat Ratna”, the highest civilian award of India in 1954.
- Since 1962, Teachers’ Day is celebrated on 5 September in memory of Radhakrishnan as his birthday is on 5 September.
- In 1962, he was elected as a member of the “British Academy”.
- Pope John Pal offered Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan a “golden spur”.
- He was awarded the “Order of Merit” by the Government of England.
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan contribution
Dr. Radhakrishnan wrote many books on Indian Philosophy and Religion, out of those some books are named.
- Recovery of Faith
- Gautam Buddha: Life and Philosophy
- The Hindu view of life
- Eastern Religions and Western Thought
- Religion and Society
- India and the world
- An idealist view of life
The books he wrote were often in English.
On the Republic Day of 1967, Dr. Radhakrishnan, while addressing the country, said that he would never like to become President ahead, and this was his last speech as President.
Death
Dr. Radhakrishnan died on April 17 in the year 1975, he was battling a disease.
His contribution in the field of education is still remembered. That’s why Indians celebrate Teachers’ Day on 5 September and express their love towards Dr. Radhakrishnan. On this day, well-known and outstanding teachers of India are also awarded for their contribution.
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