A. P. Udhayabhanu

A. P. Udayabhanu (1 October 1915 – 15 December 1999) was an Indian freedom fighter, journalist, writer and social activist from the State of Kerala. He belonged to the famous Ezhava family, Alummoottil, in Muttom near Haripad of Central Travancore, who had their family title as Channar. He was a leader of the Indian National Congress and served as the KPCC President. He was elected to the Travancore Legislative Assembly twice, in 1944 and 1948, on Congress ticket. He had worked as chief-editor of many newspapers including Mathrubhumi.He was a Member of the Kerala Public Service Commission from 1963 to 1969. He has also served as the Chairman of the Kerala Government Prohibition Commission responsible for the 'Udayabhanu Commission Report on Alcohol Policy', besides the Kerala Jails Reforms Committee. He was one among the founders of Alcohol & Drug Information Centre (ADIC)-India along with Lakshmi N. Menon and served as its President after the death of Mrs. Menon till 15 December 1999. He also served as the Chair-Person of the World Wide Fund for Nature - Kerala Chapter for a long time. His articles and columns used to appear in many Malayalam periodicals and news papers on a regular basis, mostly commenting on social issues.

Contribution to Malayalam literature

He is also well known for his contributions to the Malayalam literature, especially towards the genre of light essays.were simple, touching and humorous. Enteyum Kathayum Alpam is his auto biography.

Personal life

A. P. Udhayabhanu was married to Smt. Bharathi Udhayabhanu, who was a member of the Indian Parliament (1954–1958, 1958–1964).[1] She was also a writer and her autobiographical work Aṭukkaḷayilninnu Pārlimentileykku (‘From Kitchen to Parliament’) won her the Kerala Sahitya Academy Award, 1960.[2] She died in 1983. The couple had 5 children.

Awards

  • Kerala Sahithya Academy Award for lifetime contributions in 1933
  • Swadeshabhimani Award for contributions to journalism in 1933
  • Pathradhipar K. Sukumaran Memorial Award in 1995
  • C. Achyutha Menon Award.

References

  1. ↑ http://164.100.47.5:8080/members/mpterms.asp?terms=2
  2. ↑ http://rajyasabha.nic.in/rsnew/pre_member/1952_2003/b.pdf
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