C. N. Annadurai

C. N. Annadurai
1st Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
In office 14 January 1969 – 3 February 1969
Governor	Ujjal Singh
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	V. R. Nedunchezhiyan (acting)
Constituency	Leader of the State Legislative Council
5th Chief Minister of Madras State
In office 6 March 1967 – 13 January 1969
Governor	Ujjal Singh
Preceded by	M. Bhakthavatsalam
Succeeded by	Position abolished
Constituency	Leader of the State Legislative Council
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
In office 3 April 1962 – 25 February 1967
Leader of House	Hafiz Mohamad Ibrahim Yashwantrao Chavan Jaisukh lal Hathi M. C. Chagla
Constituency	Madras State
Member of the Madras State Legislative Assembly
In office 1 April 1957 – 18 March 1962
Chief Minister	K. Kamaraj
Preceded by	Deivasigamani
Succeeded by	S. V. Natesa Mudaliar
Constituency	Kancheepuram
1st General Secretary of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
In office 25 September 1960 – 3 February 1969
Preceded by	V. R. Nedunchezhiyan
Succeeded by	V. R. Nedunchezhiyan
In office 17 September 1949 – 23 April 1955
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	V. R. Nedunchezhiyan
Member of the Madras Legislative Council
In office 6 March 1967 – 14 January 1969
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Rani Annadurai
Member of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Council
In office 14 January 1969 – 3 February 1969
Leader of House	Himself
Leader of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Council
In office 16 January 1969 – 3 February 1969
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	M. Karunanidhi
Leader of the Madras Legislative Council
In office 17 March 1967 – 14 January 1969
Preceded by	R. Venkatraman
Succeeded by	Position abolished
Personal details
Born	Conjeevaram Natarajan Annadurai[1] (1909-09-15)15 September 1909 Conjeevaram, Madras Presidency, British India (now Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu, India)
Died	3 February 1969(1969-02-03) (aged 59) Madras (now Chennai), Tamil Nadu, India
Resting place	Anna Memorial
Political party	DMK (from 1949)
Other political affiliations	Dravidar Kazhagam (1944–1949) Justice Party (until 1944)
Spouse	Rani Annadurai ​ (m. 1930)​
Awards	Chubb Fellowship (1968)
Nicknames	Peraringar Anna

Conjeevaram Natarajan Annadurai (15 September 1909 – 3 February 1969), popularly known as Anna, also known as Perarignar Anna (Anna, the scholar or Elder Brother), was an Indian politician who served as the fourth and last Chief Minister of Madras State from 1967 until 1969 and first Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for 20 days (after Madras State was renamed Tamil Nadu) before his death. He was the first member of a Dravidian party to hold either post.

He was well known for his oratorical skills and was an acclaimed writer in the Tamil language. He scripted and acted in several plays. Some of his plays were later made into movies. He was the first politician from the Dravidian parties to use Tamil cinema extensively for political propaganda. Born in a middle-class family, he first worked as a school teacher, then moved into the political scene of the Madras Presidency as a journalist. He edited several political journals and enrolled as a member of the Dravidar Kazhagam. As an ardent follower of Periyar E. V. Ramasamy, he rose in stature as a prominent member of the party.

Due to differences looming with Periyar, on issues of separate independent state of Dravida Nadu and union with India, he crossed swords with his political mentor. The friction between the two finally erupted when Periyar married Maniammai, who was much younger than him. Angered by this action of Periyar, Annadurai with his supporters parted from Dravidar Kazhagam and launched his own party, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK).^{[citation needed]} The DMK initially followed the same ideologies as its parent, Dravidar Kazhagam. But with the evolution of national politics and the constitution of India after the Sino-Indian War in 1962, Annadurai dropped the claim for an independent Dravida Nadu. Various protests against the ruling Congress government took him to prison on several occasions; the last of which was during the Madras anti-Hindi agitation of 1965. The agitation itself helped Annadurai to gain popular support for his party. His party won a landslide victory in the 1967 state elections. His cabinet was the youngest at that time in India. He legalised Self-Respect marriages, enforced a two-language policy (in preference to the three-language formula in other southern states), implemented subsidies for rice, and renamed Madras State to Tamil Nadu.

However, he died of cancer just two years into office. His funeral had the highest attendance of any to that date. Several institutions and organisations are named after him. A splinter party launched by M. G. Ramachandran in 1972 was named after him as All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.