K. M. Panikkar
| K. M. Panikkar | |
|---|---|
| Born |
June 3, 1894 Kingdom of Travancore (Modern day Kerala), India |
| Died | 10 December 1963 (aged 69) |
| Occupation | Novelist, journalist, historian, administrator, diplomat |
Kavalam Madhava Panikkar (1894 – 10 December 1963), was an Indian novelist, journalist, historian, administrator and diplomat. He was born in Travancore, then a princely state in the British Indian Empire and was educated in Madras and at the University of Oxford.
After a period as a Professor at Aligarh Muslim University and later at University of Calcutta, he became editor of Hindustan Times in 1925. Later, he went to Patiala State as Foreign Minister and then to Bikaner State later becoming its Prime Minister. When India achieved freedom, Panikkar represented the country at the 1947 session of the UN General Assembly. In 1950, he was appointed India's(the first non-Socialist country to recognize People's Republic of China) ambassador to China. After a successful tenure there, he went as envoy to Egypt in 1952. He was appointed as chairman of States Reorganisation Commission set up in 1953. He was also India's ambassador to France and a member of Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian parliament. He also served as Vice chancellor of University of Kashmir and University of Mysore. He was the maternal uncle of the veteran poet, dramatist and lyricist Kavalam Narayana Panicker.
Panikkar was born to Puthillathu Parameswaran Namboodiri and Chalayil Kunjikutti Kunjamma in the princely state of Travancore in 1894. He was a member of the warrior Nair caste. He completed his basic studies at CMS College School, Kottayam and St. Paul's School, Vepery, Madras. Later on he joined Madras Christian College for intermediate classes. At MCC he was a contemporary of Puthezhath Raman Menon, Nandyelath Padmanabha Menon and Sadasiva Reddy among others. He left for England in April 1914 to read history at Christ Church, University of Oxford. After leaving Oxford, Panikkar read for the bar at the Middle Temple, London.
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