Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan

Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
Official Portrait, 1962
2nd President of India
In office
13 May 1962 – 13 May 1967
Prime Minister
Vice PresidentZakir Husain
Preceded byRajendra Prasad
Succeeded byZakir Husain
1st Vice President of India
In office
13 May 1952 – 12 May 1962
PresidentRajendra Prasad
Prime MinisterJawaharlal Nehru
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byZakir Husain
2nd Ambassador of India to Soviet Union
In office
12 July 1949 – 12 May 1952
Preceded byVijaya Lakshmi Pandit
Succeeded byK. P. S. Menon
4th Vice-Chancellor of Banaras Hindu University
In office
1939–1948
Preceded byPandit Madan Mohan Malaviya
Succeeded byAmarnath Jha
Personal details
Born(1888-09-05)5 September 1888
Thiruttani, Madras Presidency, British India
(present-day Tamil Nadu, India)[1]
Died17 April 1975(1975-04-17) (aged 86)
Madras, Tamil Nadu, India
(present-day Chennai)
Political partyIndependent
Spouse
Sarvepalli Sivakamu
(m. 1903; died 1956)
Children6, including Gopal
Occupation
Profession
Awards
Known forthe Indian Philosophy: 2 volume set
Academic background
Alma mater
Academic work
Discipline
Institutions
Main interests

Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan OM, FBA (pronunciation; 5 September 1888 – 17 April 1975; natively Radhakrishnayya) was an Indian politician, philosopher and statesman who served as the second president of India from 1962 to 1967. He previously served as the first vice president of India from 1952 to 1962. He was the second ambassador of India to the Soviet Union from 1949 to 1952. He was also the fourth vice-chancellor of Banaras Hindu University from 1939 to 1948 and the second vice-chancellor of Andhra University from 1931 to 1936. Radhakrishnan is considered one of the most influential and distinguished 20th century scholars of comparative religion and philosophy,[2][web 1] he held the King George V Chair of Mental and Moral Science at the University of Calcutta from 1921 to 1932 and Spalding Chair of Eastern Religion and Ethics at University of Oxford from 1936 to 1952.[3]

Radhakrishnan's philosophy was grounded in Advaita Vedanta, reinterpreting this tradition for a contemporary understanding.[web 1] He defended Hinduism against what he called "uninformed Western criticism",[4] contributing to the formation of contemporary Hindu identity.[5] He has been influential in shaping the understanding of Hinduism, in both India and the west, and earned a reputation as a bridge-builder between India and the West.[6]

Radhakrishnan was awarded several high awards during his life, including a knighthood in 1931, the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award in India, in 1954, and honorary membership of the British Royal Order of Merit in 1963. He was also one of the founders of Helpage India, a non profit organisation for elderly underprivileged in India. Radhakrishnan believed that "teachers should be the best minds in the country". Since 1962, his birthday has been celebrated in India as Teachers' Day on 5 September every year.[web 2]

  1. ^ "Radhakrishnan of India, Philosopher, Dead at 86". New York Times. 17 April 1975. Archived from the original on 12 December 2018. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
  2. ^ Pollock, Sheldon (2011). "Crisis in the Classics" (PDF). Social Research. 78 (1): 21–48. doi:10.1353/sor.2011.0015. S2CID 141188541. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 April 2018. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
  3. ^ The Madras Mail, Saturday, 8 February 1936, page 9
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference brown153 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Flood, Gavin D. (13 July 1996). An Introduction to Hinduism. Cambridge University Press. p. 249. ISBN 978-0-521-43878-0.
  6. ^ Hawley, Michael. "Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1888—1975)" Archived 12 July 2019 at the Wayback Machine. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.


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