Krishna Kripalani (29 September 1907 – 27 April 1992) was an Indian freedom fighter, author and parliamentarian. He wrote a number of books on

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

and on Indian literature.

Early life

The son of Ramchand B. Kripalani, Krishna was born at

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...

on 29 September 1907. He completed his early education from Karachi and

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India ...

, and graduated from the

University of Bombay The University of Mumbai is a collegiate, state-owned, public research university in Mumbai. The University of Mumbai is one of the largest universities in the world. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. Ratan Tata is the appointed ...

. He proceeded to London for higher studies. He studied for the Bar at Lincoln's Inn and

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...

for history, economics, political science, law and anthropology.

Independence movement and Santiniketan

Back in the country, initially at Karachi in 1931, he started practising law in

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...

. However, he was arrested for participating in the freedom movement which cut short his legal career. At that time, he was interested in learning Bengali. After his release from imprisonment he proceeded to

Santiniketan Santiniketan is a neighbourhood of Bolpur town in the Bolpur subdivision of Birbhum district in West Bengal, India, approximately 152 km north of Kolkata. It was established by Maharshi Devendranath Tagore, and later expanded by his son ...

with that objective.

was so impressed with him that he offered him the position of a lecturer in

Visva Bharati Visva-Bharati () is a public central university and an Institution of National Importance located in Shantiniketan, West Bengal, India. It was founded by Rabindranath Tagore who called it ''Visva-Bharati'', which means the communion of the w ...

. Kripalani worked for Visva Bharati from 1933 to 1946. During his stay at Santiniketan, he met Nandita, daughter of Mira Devi, youngest daughter of Rabindranath Tagore and the two decided to marry.

Busy life

In 1946, on a personal request from J. B. Kripalani and

Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

, he joined the

Indian National Congress 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 E ...

as its general secretary. In subsequent years, he shouldered the responsibility of many other party positions. He was invited to many major international events and delivered erudite lectures on various topics. In 1950, while visiting Japan, he released ''Rabindranath Tagore: a Biography''. Between 1962 and 2011 the book went through 44 editions in 4 languages, and he had authored several books after that. He was honoured with the Padma Bhusan in 1969. He was a nominated member of the

Rajya Sabha The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...

from 1974 to 1980. The

Sahitya Akademi The Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, is an organisation dedicated to the promotion of literature in the languages of India. Founded on 12 March 1954, it is supported by, though independent of, the Indian government. Its of ...

was established in 1954 and Krishna Kripalani was appointed its first secretary and was there till 1971. Thereafter, he served National Book Trust and Indian Institute of Advance Study in Shimla. His wife Nandita died childless in 1967. After retirement, he settled in Santiniketan and died on 27 April 1992.

Works

*''Rabindranath Tagore – a biography'' *''Modern Indian literature – a panoramic glimpse'' *''Gandhi: a life'' *''Dwarakanath Tagore, a forgotten pioneer: a life'' *''Rolland and Tagore'', a collection of letters and essays, edited jointly with Alex Aronson

References

{{Authority control Nominated members of the Rajya Sabha Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in literature & education 1907 births 1992 deaths 20th-century Indian biographers People associated with Santiniketan Scholars from West Bengal