Dewan Bahadur Dewan Bahadur or Diwan Bahadur was a title of honour awarded during British Raj, British rule in India. It was awarded to individuals who had performed faithful service or acts of public welfare to the nation. From 1911 the title was accompanied by ...

Sir Samuel Ebenezer Runganadhan (also Ranganathan; 30 December 1877 – 7 November 1966) was an Indian

educationist Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Var ...

who served successively as Vice-Chancellor of

Annamalai University , logo = CampusmapofAU.jpg , image = Annamalai University logo.png , image_size = 225px , motto = "With Courage and Faith" , established = , type ...

and

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

and as the last High Commissioner for India from 1943 to 1947.

Life

Runganadhan was born to Reverend C. Runganadhan of the

London Missionary Society The London Missionary Society was an interdenominational evangelical missionary society formed in England in 1795 at the instigation of Welsh Congregationalist minister Edward Williams. It was largely Reformed in outlook, with Congregational m ...

. In 1908, he entered the Madras Provincial Educational Service, and was promoted to the Indian Educational Service in 1921, which had hitherto been mainly reserved for British educationists. He married Leila Rau, daughter of K. Krishna Rau of Madras, and had a son and a daughter. From 1929 to 1935, he served as Vice-Chancellor of Annamalai University, in which capacity he was a delegate to the Congress of the Universities of the Empire, held in Edinburgh in 1931. He was subsequently Vice-Chancellor of Madras University from 1937 to 1940. He was president of the Indian Christian Association of Madras and vice-president of the All-India Christian Conference. In 1938, he was elected a member of the upper house of the Legislative Council of the Madras Presidency, serving until 1940, when he became the adviser to the

Secretary of State for India His (or Her) Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for India, known for short as the India Secretary or the Indian Secretary, was the British Cabinet minister and the political head of the India Office responsible for the governance of th ...

. In 1938-1939, he was the Chairman of the Inter-Universities Board of India. Conferred the title of ''Diwan Bahadur'' in 1937, Runganadhan was knighted in the

1943 New Year Honours The 1943 New Year Honours were appointments by King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the United Kingdom and British Empire. They were announced on 29 December 1942.United Kingdom (additiona ...

list and appointed the last High Commissioner for India in May 1943. During his tenure as High Commissioner, he raised £40,000 to aid victims of the Bengal Famine. He was a delegate to the Conference of the Institute of Pacific Relations in December 1942, and the leader of the Indian delegations to the 1945 International Labour Conference (Paris), the 1946 Conference (Montreal) and to the Paris Peace Conference in 1946, signing the peace treaties on behalf of India.pg 2631, ''Who's Who'', 1960 He retired as High Commissioner in April 1947, shortly before Indian independence, and died in Bangalore, aged 88.

References

Dewan Bahadurs Indian Christians Knights Bachelor Indian Knights Bachelor High Commissioners of India to the United Kingdom 1877 births 1966 deaths Educators in British India {{s-end