Abraham Mar Thoma XVII Metropolitan (30 October 1879 – 1 September 1947) was the Metropolitan of the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church from 1944–1947. He was called Maret Kochu Thirumeni by his people. Among the bishops of Malankara Churches Including

Mar Thoma Church The Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church, often shortened to Mar Thoma Church, and known also as the Reformed Syrian ChurchS. N. Sadasivan. A Social History of India'. APH Publishing; 2000. . p. 442. and the Mar Thoma Syrian Church of Malabar ...

, Abraham Mar Thoma was the first to earn a Doctoral degree.

Early life

Ninan was the son of Abraham. He married Mariamma, eldest daughter of Oommachen, Karikattu. Eraviperoor. Mariamma's mother was from Chemmarapallil, Puthupally,

Kottayam Kottayam () is a municipal town in the Indian state of Kerala. Flanked by the Western Ghats on the east and the Vembanad Lake and paddy fields of Kuttanad on the west. It is the district headquarters of Kottayam district, located in south-we ...

. Bishop Abraham was born on 30 October 1879, was the only son of Ninan and Mariamma. He had two elder sisters. His parents called him Kochavarachen. His school record shows his name as M. N. Abraham (Maret Ninan Abraham).

Education

He was not a bright student. Many times he failed in his school final and degree examinations. That helped him in later years to encourage the students who failed in their examinations and showed them the path to success.

Ordination

M. N. Abraham and M. P. Pothen (Philipose), Velliyampallil,

Mallappally Mallappally (meaning "wrestler shrine" in Malayalam, from മല്ലൻ "Mallan" or "wrestler" + പള്ളി "palli" or "shrine") is a taluk in Kerala state in India. It is one of the five taluks that make up the Pathanamthitta district ...

, were the first Indians with university degrees to be ordained as deacons in the

Titus II Mar Thoma Titus II Mar Thoma Metropolitan (Mar Thoma XVI) (6 May 1866 – 6 July 1944) was the head of the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church with its center in Kerala state in south-western India. He was known as Thithoos Dwitheeyan Mar Thoma Metropoli ...

ordained them on 30 April 1912. On 5 December 1914, at his native place Eraviperoor, Deacon Abraham, and Deacon Pothen were ordained as priests. Abraham was appointed as

Kayamkulam Kayamkulam is a town and municipality in the ''Onattukara'' region of Alappuzha district in Kerala. It is the second biggest town in Alappuzha district. It is located on the western coast of India, and was an ancient maritime trading center. O ...

divisional secretary.

Politics

The Metropolitan was a staunch nationalist who stood for the people's democratic rights. He resisted the undemocratic and dictatorial actions of Dewan Sir

C. P. Ramaswami Iyer Sir Chetput Pattabhiraman Ramaswami Iyer (12 November 1879 – 26 September 1966), popularly known as Sir C. P., was an Indian lawyer, administrator and politician who served as the Advocate-General of Madras Presidency from 1920 to 1923, Law ...

and was instrumental in getting a resolution passed by the Sabha Council (church council) condemning Sir C. P.'s move to proclaim

Travancore The Kingdom of Travancore ( /ˈtrævənkɔːr/), also known as the Kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor, was an Indian kingdom from c. 1729 until 1949. It was ruled by the Travancore Royal Family from Padmanabhapuram, and later Thiruvananthapuram. At ...

as an independent state.Mar Thoma Sabha Directory (1999), pp. 26–27.

References

Bibliography

English * Juhanon Marthoma Metropolitan. (1952). ''Christianity in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and a Brief History of the Marthoma Syrian Church''. Pub: K.M. Cherian. * Zac Varghese Dr. & Mathew A. Kallumpram. (2003). ''Glimpses of

History''. London, England. . * Zac Varghese Dr. & Mathew A. Kallumpram. ''Metropolitan Abraham Mar Thoma.'' "Light of Life", Vol. 3, Issue 11, September 2004. Malayalam. * Eapen, Prof. Dr. K. V. (2001). ''Malankara Marthoma Suryani Sabha Charitram'' (History of Malankara Marthoma Syrian Church). Pub: Kallettu, Muttambalam,

. * Mar Thoma Voluntary Evangelistic Association, (1998). Abraham Mar Thoma * Mathew, N. M. ''Malankara Marthoma Sabha Charitram'' (History of the Marthoma Church), Volume I (2006), Volume II (2007), Volume III (2008). Pub. E.J. Institute, Thiruvalla. * Varghese, (1950) ''Dr. Abraham Mar Thoma Metropolitan''. * Daniel, K. N. ''Dr. Abraham Marthoma Metropolitan – Biography''. V.V. Press, Kollam. 1948.

External links

http://marthomasyrianchurch.orghttp://marthoma.inMar Thoma Sunday School, Kuwait
at kuwaitmarthoma.com
Pallipad Mar Thoma
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thoma, Abraham Mar 1879 births 1949 deaths Christian clergy from Kerala Metropolitans of the Mar Thoma Syrian Church People from Alappuzha district Saint Thomas Christians