Tripuraneni Ramaswamy

Tripuraneni Ramaswamy
Tripuraneni Ramaswamy Statue at Tankbund, Hyderabad
Born	15 January 1887 Angaluru, Krishna district
Died	16 January 1943 Tenali
Nationality	Indian
Ethnicity	Hindu
Citizenship	India
Education	Matriculation
Alma mater	Noble College, Machilipatnam
Genre	Lawyer, Playwright, Poet, Avadhanam
Notable works	Kurukshetra Sangramam
Spouse	Punnamma
Children	Tripuraneni Gopichand, Chouda Rani
Relatives	Pitcheswara Rao Atluri
Website
http://blog.anilatluri.com/2005/12/85/

Tripuraneni Ramaswamy or Kaviraju Tripuraneni Ramaswamy (January 15, 1887 – January 16, 1943) was a lawyer, famous poet, playwright and reformer active among the Telugu-speaking people. Popularly known as Kaviraju, Ramaswamy is considered the first poet to introduce rationalism and humanism into Telugu poetry and literature.

Ramaswamy was part of a growing movement in India to reassess the culture of India. This movement included such people as Ram Mohan Roy, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Ranade, Dayananda Saraswati, Kandukuri Veeresalingam and Gurazada Apparao.

Ramaswamy was born in the village of Angaluru in the Krishna District (present day Andhra Pradesh) into a family of farmers. At the age of 23, he passed his Matriculation Examination. In the same year Ramaswamy wrote two plays: "Karempudi Kadanam" based on the Palanadu battle and "Kurukshetra Sangramam" based on the Mahabharata war. In 1911, Ramaswamy joined the Noble College at Bandar to study for the Intermediate Course. In those years he displayed his literary skills and prodigious memory in his Avadhanam.

In 1914, Ramaswamy went to Britain and studied law as well as English Literature and modern European culture in Dublin. During this time, Ramaswamy wrote to Krishna Patrika, a Telugu weekly appealing to Indians to support the Home Rule movement started by Annie Besant. He pleaded for India's independence. Ramaswamy wrote many patriotic songs during the independence movement.