P. K. Raghava Warrier FRCS ( ml, പി. കെ. രാഘവ വാര്യര്‍) (13 August 1921 – 26 March 2011) was a cardiothoracic

surgeon In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...

, author and social activist from Kerala, India.

Biography

P. K. R. Warrier, the youngest son in his family, enrolled for medical studies at Madras Medical College during the early 1940s. As a student, he was actively involved in

India's freedom struggle The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged from Bengal. ...

. It was during one of the freedom rallies in his student days that he met his future wife, Devaki Pallam, then an apprentice of Gandhi. Dr. PKR Warrier's father was Rao Bahadur Dr. Pulakkat Krishna Warrier. His mother was Sreedevi Krishna Varier. He hails from Nellaya, Palakkad district, Kerala. His children are Mr. DK Warrier & Mrs. Anasooya Shaji. Having completed his undergraduate education at Madras Medical College in June 1946, he worked as a demonstrator of anatomy between July 1947 and December 1948. He remained in Madras training as an unofficial house surgeon and senior house surgeon under Dr. Mohan Rao and Dr. C.P.V. Menon at the

General Hospital ''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the list of longest-running television shows by category, longest-running American soap opera in pro ...

between January 1949 and June 1950. Between June 1950 and August 1959, he worked as a Civil Assistant Surgeon in various government hospitals throughout South India including

Coimbatore Coimbatore, also spelt as Koyamputhur (), sometimes shortened as Kovai (), is one of the major metropolitan cities in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Noyyal River and surrounded by the Western Ghats. Coimbato ...

, Cochin and Trivandrum as well as a brief stint in Minicoy Island. Warrier then moved to London to attain his Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons. After receiving the Fellowship in January 1960, he went on to receive training in cardiothoracic surgery in

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement ...

and Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham until 1962. On returning to India, he joined as an assistant professor to Professor Raghavachari in the Department of Surgery at

Trivandrum Medical College The Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram (also known as Thiruvananthapuram Medical College or Trivandrum Medical College) is in Thiruvananthapuram (the capital of Kerala), India. Founded in 1951, it was inaugurated by Prime Minister J ...

1964. In 1964, Warrer established the Department of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery at the Medical College. He held the position of professor and head of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery when he retired in 1977. His daughter is married to national film award winner director Shaji N Karun After formal retirement, he continued to work. He was Professor of Surgery at Kasturba Medical College, Manipal until 1983, Chief of Surgery at AKG Memorial Hospital, Kannur until 1986, Surgical Consultant at Aswini Hospital, Thrissur and Semalk Hospital, Ottappalam. In 1990, Warrier retired from all professional work, though he continues to be a prominent presence in the field.

Social activism

Warrier maintained a close association with

E. M. S. Namboodiripad Elamkulam Manakkal Sankaran Namboodiripad (13 June 1909 – 19 March 1998), popularly known as EMS, was an Indian communist politician and theorist, who served as the first Chief Minister of Kerala in 1957–1959 and then again in 1967–1969. A ...

and other prominent

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

leaders of Kerala. He was sympathetic to the early communist movement of Kerala, and was opposed to government-employed doctors performing in private practise. Warrier remained a renowned figure in these circles.

Books

Warrier has published his autobiography in both Malayalam and English. The Malayalam version first appeared as a weekly series in '' Deshabhimani Weekly''. An expanded and rewritten English version of the book titled ''Experience and Perceptions'' was later released in 2004.

Awards received

* Abu Dhabi Sakthi-T. K. Ramakrishnan Award (2007) * Lifetime Achievement Award instituted by the Heart Care Foundation, a charitable society. * Dubai Art Lovers' Association Award, for his selfless contribution in the field of medicine and surgery. * Lifetime achievement award of the Dr. K.P. Nair Foundation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Warrier, P. K. R. 1921 births 2011 deaths Indian surgeons Indian medical educators Medical doctors from Kerala Madras Medical College alumni 20th-century Indian medical doctors Indian autobiographers Malayalam-language writers Activists from Kerala 20th-century surgeons Recipients of the Abu Dhabi Sakthi Award