E. M. S. Namboodiripad

Comrade E. M. S. Namboodiripad
1st Chief Minister of Kerala
In office 6 March 1967 – 1 November 1969
Governor	Bhagwan Sahay V. Viswanathan
Preceded by	President's rule
Succeeded by	C. Achutha Menon
In office 5 April 1957 – 31 July 1959
Governor	P.S. Rao (acting) Burgula Ramakrishna Rao
Preceded by	Office Established
Succeeded by	Pattom Thanu Pillai
General Secretary of Communist Party of India
In office 29 April 1962 – 11 April 1964
Preceded by	Ajoy Ghosh
Succeeded by	Chandra Rajeswara Rao
General Secretary of Communist Party of India (Marxist)
In office 8 April 1978 – 9 January 1992
Preceded by	P. Sundarayya
Succeeded by	Harkishan Singh Surjeet
Personal details
Born	(1909-06-13)13 June 1909 Perinthalmanna, Madras Presidency, British India (Present day Malappuram district, Kerala, India)
Died	19 March 1998(1998-03-19) (aged 88) Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India
Political party	Communist Party of India (Marxist) (from 1964), Communist Party of India (before 1964),
Spouse	Arya Antharjanam (1937–1998)[1]
Children	4[2]
Residence	Thiruvananthapuram
Alma mater	St. Thomas College, Thrissur
Known for	Co-founder of Communist Party of India (Marxist)
Website	Government of Kerala

Elamkulam Manakkal Sankaran Namboodiripad (13 June 1909 – 19 March 1998), popularly known by his initials 'E. M. S.' was an Indian communist politician and theorist, who served as the first Chief Minister of Kerala in 1957–1959 and then again in 1967–1969. As a member of the Communist Party of India (CPI), he became the first non-Congress Chief Minister in the Indian republic. In 1964, he led a faction of the CPI that broke away to form the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)).

As chief minister, EMS pioneered radical land and educational reforms in Kerala, which helped it become the country's leader in social indicators. It is largely due to his commitment and guidance that the CPI(M), of which he was Politburo member and general secretary for 14 years, has become such a domineering political force, playing a vital role in India's new era of coalition politics.^[3]