| Chakravarti Rajagopalachari | |
| Birth Date: | 1878 12, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | Salem district, Madras Presidency, British India |
| Death Place: | Madras, Tamil Nadu, India |
Chakravarti Rajagopalachari (10 December 1878 – 25 December 1972), informally called Rajaji or C.R., was an Indian lawyer, Indian independence activist, politician, writer, politician and leader of the Indian National Congress who served as the last Governor-General of India. He served as the Chief Minister or Premier of the Madras Presidency, Governor of West Bengal, Minister for Home Affairs of the Indian Union and Chief minister of Madras. He was the founder of the Swatantra Party and the first recipient of India's highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna. Rajaji vehemently opposed the usage of nuclear weapons and was a proponent of world peace and disarmament.
Rajaji was an accomplished writer both in his mother tongue Tamil, and English. In 1922, he published a book Siraiyil Tavam (Meditation in jail) which was a day-to-day diary about his first imprisonment from 21 December 1921 to 20 March 1922.[1] In 1958, he was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award for Tamil for his retelling of the Ramayana – Chakravarti Thirumagan.[2]
In 1916, Rajaji started the Tamil Scientific Terms Society.[3] This society coined new words in Tamil for terms connected to botany, chemistry, physics, astronomy and mathematics. At about the same time, he called for Tamil to be introduced as the medium of instruction in schools.
Rajaji was the founder of the Salem Literary Society and regularly participated in its meetings in which he suggested introducing scholarships for Dalit students.[4] He also edited Mahatma Gandhi's newspaper Young India.
In 1951, Rajaji wrote an abridged retelling of the Mahabharata in English, followed by one of the Ramayana in 1957. Earlier, in 1955, he had translated Kambar's Tamil Ramayana into English. In 1965, he translated the Thirukkural into English. He also wrote books on the Bhagavad Gita, the Upanishads, Socrates, and Marcus Aurelius in English. Rajaji often regarded his literary works as the best service he had rendered to the people.[5] In 1958, he established the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.
Apart from his literary works, Rajaji also composed a devotional song Kurai Onrum Illai devoted to Lord Krishna.[6] This song was set to music and is a regular in most Carnatic concerts. Rajaji composed a benediction hymn which was sung by M. S. Subbulakshmi at the United Nations General Assembly in 1967.[7]
Rajaji was also a strong advocate of Tamil music and lent his support to the Tamil music movement of the 1940s.
| Siraiyil Tavam | 1922 | ||
| Sōkratar, allatu, Cattiyākkiraka vijayam | Cātu Accukkūṭam | 1922 | |
| Tampī! vā | Rōccars and Cans Limited | 1939 | |
| Ātma cintan̲ai | Pārati Patippakam | 1954 | |
| Tur̲avi Lāren̲s | Campā Nūlakam | 1957 | |
| Nirantarac celvam | Pārati Patippakam | 1963 | |
| Tirumūlar tavamol̲i | Pārati Patippakam | 1964 | |
| Translations | ||||
| Viyācar viruntu | Tamil̲ppaṇṇai | 1946 | |
| Tiṇṇai Racāyaṉam | 1946 | ||
| Kaivilakku | Thirumakal | 1958 | |
| 1958 | |||
| Kaṭōpaniṣattu: poruḷ viḷakkam | Pāratīya vityā pavan̲, Cen̲n̲aik kin̲ai | 1962 |