3 Review(s)

About The Book : It is singular that while the biographies of several eminent men of Bengal and Bombay have been published, India knows little or nothing of the greatest men of Southern India. Madras has given birth to several distinguished men who can not sniffer in comparison with the best men of other parts of India. Yet, no attempt has hitherto been made to publish a permanent record of their lives for the information of the people of India as a whole and for the instruction and edification of the rising generation of Southern India in particular. About two years ago, it struck me that I may make an attempt however humble, in this direction, and accordingly opened the columns of the Madras Standard for the publication of the biographical sketches of eminent Indians. Out of the numerous sketches that have since appeared under the heading Our Portrait Gallery, I have selected for separate publication the lives of twelve representative men who are held in high esteem by the people ofn. About The Author : Paramaswaran Pillai G (Govinda), of Pallichal (1864–1903), commonly known as Barrister G. P. Pillai, was born on February 2, 1864, in Pallippuram, Thiruvananthapuram, India in an aristocratic Nair family His parents were Hariharan Iyer and Karthyayani Amma. After gaining a B.A. at the Madras Presidency College he was admitted to the Middle Temple in London in 1898. He was called to the bar of Travancore Highcourt in 1902. He later established the first English language newspaper in South India, The Madras Standard. During the stay at Madras he used to write in The Hindu. He played a major role in the formation of Malayali Memorial in 1891. He is the he only Malayali whom the Mahatma Gandhi has mentioned in his autobiography. Most widely held works by G Paramaswaran Pillai; Representative Indians; Representative men of Southern India by ;London and Paris through Indian spectacles; Select writings & speeches of G.P. Pillai; with a brief life-sketch, appreciations, etc.