Sarvepalli Gopal | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1923-04-23)23 April 1923 |
| Died | 20 April 2002(2002-04-20) (aged 78) Chennai,Tamil Nadu, India |
| Occupation | Historian |
| Subject | Indian History |
| Notable awards | Padma Vibhushan, 1999 (for his contribution to Indian history)[1] |
| Spouse | Kaveri/Indira Ramaswami (1949) |
| Parents | Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (father) Sarvepalli Sivakamu (mother) |
Sarvepalli Gopal[a][b] (23 April 1923 – 20 April 2002)[2] was a well-knownIndian historian.[3] He was the son ofSarvepalli Radhakrishnan, the firstVice-President and the secondPresident of India. He was the author of theRadhakrishnan: A Biography andJawaharlal Nehru: A Biography.
Sarvepalli Gopal was born inMadras, India, on 23 April 1923 into a middle-class family. He was the only son ofS. Radhakrishnan, the first vice-president and second president of independent India, and Sivakamu. He had five sisters.[2]
Gopal was educated atMill Hill School in London and at theMadras Christian College. He was an undergraduate student of history atBalliol College, Oxford, where he won the Curzon Prize. He continued as a student at Balliol earning hisPhD on the viceroyalty ofLord Ripon in 1951.[2]
Subsequently, he was appointed as a Director in theMinistry of External Affairs, Government of India, in the 1950s, where he worked closely withPrime MinisterJawaharlal Nehru. In the 1960s, he was aReader in Indian History atSt Antony's College, Oxford. When the newJawaharlal Nehru University was founded by the thenPrime Minister,Indira Gandhi, he was appointed as aProfessor of History at the Centre for Historical Studies, which he helped in setting up.[4] In the 1970s, he was aChairman of theNational Book Trust,New Delhi.
Gopal died due tokidney failure inChennai on 20 April 2002, three days before his 79th birthday.
