K. R. Narayanan Biography 
K. R. Narayanan was the tenth President of India and the first Dalit and Malayali to become the President. He served as the member of Lok Sabha thrice and served as the Minister of State in the Cabinet of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. He became ninth Vice- President in 1992 and President of India in 1997. He presided over the Golden Jubilee Celebrations of India during his tenure.
He was born on 27th October 1920 in Perumthanam, Uzhavoor village in the state of Kerala. His parents are Raman Vaidyar and Punnaththuraveettil Paappiyamma. He had six siblings. He belonged to a very poor family. He studied at Government Lower Primary School, Kurichithanam at Uzhavoor and at Our Lady of Lourdes Upper Primary School. He had to walk 15 kilometers to reach his school every day. He then studied at St. Mary’s High School, Kuravilangad and at St. John’s High School, Koothattukulam. His finished his intermediate at C. M. S. College Kottayam and his B. A. Honors and M. A. English degree at University of Travancore.
He went to Delhi and worked there as a journalist in The Hindu and The Times of India. He went to England and studied political science at London School of Economics and obtained honors degree of B. Sc. Economics. In 1949, he joined Indian Foreign Service and worked in the embassies of Rangoon, Tokyo, London, Canberra and Hanoi. He taught at the Delhi School of Economics. He worked as the secretary to the ministry of external affairs in 1976 and retired in 1978. After this he served as the Vice-Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University and was the Indian ambassador to USA from 1980 to 84.
He married Ma Tint Tint of Burma on 8th June 1951 and she changed her name to Usha. Chitra Narayanan and Amrita are his two daughters. He was selected from Ottapalam constituency in Palakkad for four times. Under the Presidency of Shankar Dayal Sharma, he became the vice-president of India on 21st August 1992. He died on 9th November 2005. K. R. Narayanan Foundation was founded in December 2005 in his memory to propagate his ideals.
Published: N/A
Updated: January 14, 2013
