Kattassery Augustine Joseph (24 March 1912 – 3 February 1965) was an

Indian classical music Indian classical music is the classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It has two major traditions: the North Indian classical music known as '' Hindustani'' and the South Indian expression known as '' Carnatic''. These traditions were not ...

ian and

stage actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), ...

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 Ca ...

, India. He was the father of Indian playback singer K. J. Yesudas and grandfather of singer

Vijay Yesudas Vijay Yesudas (born 23 March 1979) is an Indian playback singer and actor. He has sung over 1000 film songs. Vijay works predominantly in the South Indian film industry, mostly in Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, and Hindi. He is the son o ...

Life

He was born in a

Latin Catholic , native_name_lang = la , image = San Giovanni in Laterano - Rome.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , alt = Façade of the Archbasilica of St. John in Lateran , caption = Archbasilica of Saint Joh ...

family in Kochi, as the only son of Kattassery Augustine and Thresyamma, both farmers. He started training in music and acting at a very young age. He had sung many songs and acted in many plays. He married Puthanpurakkal Elizabeth in 1937, and they were blessed with seven children - five sons and two daughters - namely Pushpa (b. 1938), Yesudas (b. 1940), Antony (Nicknamed Antappan, b. 1943), Babu (b. 1945), Mani (b. 1948), Jayamma (b. 1953) and Justin (b. 1958) in chronological order. Among these siblings, Pushpa and Babu died of severe fever at a young age. He believed in Oneness among religion and there is only One Supreme God though called by different names. He has brought up Yesudas in similar school of thought. He died of a suspected heart attack aged 53 in 1965. Yesudas, his son, later said in an interview that he had faced lot of money problems during this period and when his father died, the hospital authorities told him to give Rs. 1000/-. It was the famous lyricist P. Bhaskaran who helped him during this period. He was buried according to his wish at

Kochi Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of ...

Filmography

As an actor

*Nallathanka (1950) *Velakkaaran (1953)

As a playback singer

* Mahesha Maayamo ... Nallathanka 1950 * Sodara Bandhamathonne ... Nallathanka 1950 * Manoharamee Raajyam ... Nallathanka 1950 * Maanam Thanna Maariville ... Nallathanka 1950 * Aanandamaanaake ... Nallathanka 1950 * Paahimaam Jagadeeshwara ... Velakkaaran 1953 * Aanandamennum ... Velakkaaran 1953

References

20th-century Indian male classical singers 1912 births 1965 deaths Singers from Kochi Malayalam playback singers Indian male playback singers Male actors in Malayalam cinema 20th-century Indian male actors {{India-singer-stub