Alappat Sreedhara Menon (18 December 1925 – 23 July 2010), known as A. Sreedhara Menon, was an Indian historian from

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

.Padma Bhushan Prof Alappat Sreedhara Menon, Literature & Education (Kerala)
/ref> He is best known as the State Editor (1958–68) of Kerala District Gazetteers (1961–1975). He served as registrar of the Kerala University from 1968 to 1977, before retiring in 1980.

Life and education

Alappat Sreedhara Menon was born on 18 December 1925 in

Ernakulam Ernakulam () is the Central Business District of the city of Kochi in Kerala, India and has lent its name to the Ernakulam district. Many major establishments, including the Kerala High Court, the office of the Kochi Municipal Corporation a ...

, in the

Kingdom of Cochin The Kingdom of Cochin, named after its capital in the city of Kochi (Cochin), was a kingdom in the central part of present-day Kerala state. It commenced at the early part of the 12th century and continued to rule until 1949, when monarchy w ...

(

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

). His parents were Kovilakathu Parambil Padmanabha Menon and Alappat Narayani Amma. Menon passed the

Secondary School Leaving Certificate The Secondary School Leaving Certificate (commonly referred to as SSLC) is a certification obtained by a student on successful completion of an examination at the end of study at the secondary schooling level in India. The SSLC is obtained o ...

in 1941 with First Class and proceeded to the

University of Madras The University of Madras (informally known as Madras University) is a public university, public State university (India), state university in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and among the most prestigiou ...

where he passed the Intermediate Examination in 1942 with Distinction in Hindi, Indian History, and Modem History. In 1944, supported by the a scholarship from the king of Cochin, he completed his Bachelor of Arts from the Maharaja's College, Cochin, winning the Karimpat Rama Menon Gold Medal and the Rama Varma Shashtiabdapurthi Memorial Prize for English. He then continued his

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

at Madras University completing it in 1948 with a First Rank in History. He completed his MA in Political Science, specialising in International Relations from Harvard University in 1953 with the backing of a Fulbright travel grant and a SmithMundt Scholarship. From 1944 to 1949, he worked in St. Thomas College, Trichur and subsequently joined the

University College, Trivandrum University College, Thiruvananthapuram (UCT) is a constituent college of the University of Kerala, based primarily in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. The college was awarded 23rd rank by National Institutional Ran ...

in 1949 in the Department of History and Politics.B. Sobhanan, "Prof. A Sreedhara Menon, Profile of a Historian", i
A Panorama of Indian culture – Professor A. Sreedhara Menon Felicitation Volume
, K. K. Kusuman, pp 1–4. Menon received

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

, India's third-highest civilian honour, for Literature and Education in 2009. Menon died on 23 July 2010, aged 84, after some years of suffering ill-health. He was survived by his wife, Sarojini Menon, and two children.

Academic career

In 1953, Sreedhara Menon was granted the Smith Mundt Scholarship and the Fulbright Travel Grant by the US Educational Foundation in India for higher studies at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

where he obtained his master's degree in

Political Science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

, specialising in

International Relations International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such as ...

. On his return to India, he was appointed by the Government of Kerala as the first State Editor of Kerala District Gazetteers in 1958. During the next ten years, Menon compiled eight volumes of District Gazetteers (out of nine districts of Kerala)Kerala council for Historical Research – Catalogue of Publications – District Gazetteers- authentic account of Geography, History, Culture and Resources – Trivandrum (1961), Trichur (1961), Calicut (1962), Quilon (1964), Ernakulam (1965), Alleppey (1968), Cannanore (1972), and Kottayam (1975). From 1968 to 1977, Menon functioned as the Registrar of

Kerala University University of Kerala, formerly the University of Travancore, is a state-run public university located in Thiruvananthapuram, the state capital of Kerala, India. It was established in 1937 by a promulgation of the Maharajah of Travancore, Chit ...

. He worked as a visiting professor in the Department of History,

University of Calicut The University of Calicut, also known as Calicut University, is a State ownership, state-run public university headquartered at Tenhipalam in Malappuram district of the state of Kerala, India. Established in 1968, it is the first university to ...

under the UGC scheme from 1977 to 1978. From 1979 to 1981 he was a professor in the Institute of Public Administration (now the Institute of Management) under the

Government of Kerala Government of Kerala is the subnational government of the Indian state of Kerala. The government is led by a chief minister, who selects all the other ministers. The chief minister and their most senior ministers belong to the supreme decision ...

. Menon was a member of the editorial board of journals including the ''Journal of Indian History'' and ''Journal of Kerala Studies'', both published by the Department of History, University of Kerala. In 2000 Menon was elected the President of Visakhapatnam South Indian History Congress.

Political views

Menon was known for his opposition to the

Marxist Communist Party of India Marxist Communist Party of India, MCPI was a political party in India that formed in 1983 under the leadership of comrade Mohan Punamia. It emerged as a splinter group of Communist Party of India (Marxist) stuck to the original 1964 programme. T ...

. Menon refused to write a history of Indian anti-colonial movement in Kerala for the

Congress Party The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

because he "did not want to be known as a historian of the Congress". The

Communist Party of India (Marxist) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)/CPIM/CPM) is a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist communist List of political parties in India, political party in India. It is the largest communist party of India in term ...

-led coalition government in Kerala requested Menon in 1997 to write on Indian anti-colonial movement in Kerala "in consultation with E. M. S. Namboodiripad". The book was never published by the Government of Kerala and Menon withdrew from the task. He remarked on the issue, "It is not an objective historian's job to collect facts to suit theories. A true historian is a judge and not a lawyer... politicians can act only as lawyers."

Awards

*Scholarship from the Maharaja of Cochin (1944) *Smith Mundt Scholarship and the Fulbright Travel Grant (1953) *1990: INDIS award from the Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies, Thiruvananthapuram *1999: Senior Fellowship ICHR *2000: National Fellowship ICHR *2009:

for Literature and Education

Publications

Sreedhara Menon published nearly 25 books in English and

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

. ; English * Kerala District Gazetteers (Editor, 1958–1968) **Trivandrum (1961) **Trichur (1961) **Calicut (1962) **Quilon (1964) **Ernakulam (1965) **Alleppey (1968) **Cannanore (1972) **Kottayam (1975). * * * *''The Legacy of Kerala (1983)'' *''A Political History of Modern Kerala (1987)'' *''Kerala History and its Makers (1987)'' *''A Concise History of Modern Kerala (1987)'' *''Modern India – A History Since 1707'' *''Triumph and Tragedy in Travancore: Annals of Sir CPs Sixteen Years (2001)'' ; Malayalam *''Kerala Charithram and Samskaram (1967)'' *''Kerala Charithra Shilpikal''

References