V. Krishnaswamy Iyer

Venkatarama Iyer Krishnaswamy Iyer (15 June 1863 – 28 December 1911) was an Indian lawyer and High Court judge of Madras. He was involved in the prosecution of a partner of the British banking Company Arbuthnot & Co after the bank crashed on 22 October 1906. Following the crash, Iyer gathered together eight Indians who started a bank funded by Chettiar Capital which later became the Indian Bank. He is the first Indian to have a beach-fronted statue when a statue of his was put up outside the Senate House. Madras University in 1912.

Krishnaswany Iyer was born on 15 June 1863 in Thiruvidaimarudur, Thanjavur district, the second of four sons of Venkatarama Iyer who was a District Munsiff and his wife Sundari. Sundari died when Krishnaswamy was young and his father Venkatarama Iyer married again.

Krishnaswamy Iyer was educated at Thiruvidaimarudur and S. P. G. High School, Thanjavur where he was a classmate of P. S. Sivaswami Iyer. Krishnaswamy graduated from Government College, Kumbakonam and Presidency College, Madras and obtained a law degree from Madras Law College.

Krishnaswamy Iyer began practising as a lawyer in 1885. He did not do well, initially, but in 1888, when S. Ramaswamy Aiyengar, a prominent lawyer, on his appointment as District Munsiff, handed over his brief to Krishnaswamy, Krishnaswamy got the break he desired much. Krishnaswamy's rise was then, meteoric. He was elected Secretary of the Vakil's Association and in 1891, founded the Madras Law Journal with another lawyer, P. R. Sundaram Aiyar.

Krishnaswami became known when he was the contending advocate in the Arbuthnot bank case. In 1906, this popular bank crashed and depositors lost huge sums. Krishnaswami played a role in ensuring that the principal partner was imprisoned. The event led to his assisting in setting up the Indian Bank.

...
Wikipedia