Richard Littlehailes (1878–1950) was a British educationist and administrator who spent most of his career 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 ...

. He was Vice chancellor of the University of Madras from 1934 to 1937.

Biography

Littlehailes did his initial schooling from Bede School, Sunderland and gained an exhibition at from

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

Littlehailes entered the

Indian Education Service The Indian Education Service or Indian Educational Service (IES) formed part of the British Raj between 1896 and 1924, when overseas recruitment ceased. It was an administrative organisation running educational establishments in British India, larg ...

in 1903 and later became the Director of Public Instruction in Madras in 1919. From 1927 to 1933 Littlehailes served as the Educational Commissioner to the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

and later became the educational advisor of the

Baroda State Baroda State was a state in present-day Gujarat, ruled by the Gaekwad dynasty of the Maratha Confederacy from its formation in 1721 until its accession to the newly formed Dominion of India in 1949. With the city of Baroda (Vadodara) as its c ...

under Sir

Sayajirao Gaekwad III Sayajirao Gaekwad III (born Shrimant Gopalrao Gaekwad; 11 March 1863 – 6 February 1939) was the Maharaja of Baroda State from 1875 to 1939, and is remembered for reforming much of his state during his rule. He belonged to the royal Gae ...

, Maharaja of Baroda from 1933 to 1934. In his later career he served as the Vice Chancellor of University of Madras from 1934 until his retirement in 1937. He died at his home in Fleet, Hampshire on 16 December 1950.

Legacy

He was responsible for sending

Srinivasa Ramanujan Srinivasa Ramanujan (; born Srinivasa Ramanujan Aiyangar, ; 22 December 188726 April 1920) was an Indian mathematician. Though he had almost no formal training in pure mathematics, he made substantial contributions to mathematical analysis ...

to UK for higher studies under

G. H. Hardy Godfrey Harold Hardy (7 February 1877 – 1 December 1947) was an English mathematician, known for his achievements in number theory and mathematical analysis. In biology, he is known for the Hardy–Weinberg principle, a basic principle of pop ...

as his capacity as the professor of Mathematics of Presidency College, Madras where Ramanujan was student at that time. During a function held on the eve of departure of Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan to

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

in 1936 he quoted—

Radhakrishnan had raised himself step by step. When would he reach the summit of the Mount Everest of his career? Would he aspire to higher things in the life and emulate such a man as
Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...
, who has at one time a professor; and ended up as President of the United States of America?

His prophecy came true when Radhakrishnan became the second

President of India The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Murmu ...

in 1962.Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan: The Philosopher President, Press Information Bureau, Government of Indi

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Littlehailes, Richard 1878 births 1950 deaths Vice Chancellors of the University of Madras Indian Education Service officers Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire