R. Srinivasa Sarma

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Sir Ramaswami Srinivasa Sarma

CIE
(1890 – 27 September 1957) was an Indian journalist and politician. He was the first Indian journalist to be knighted.

Early life and education

Srinivasa Sarma was born in 1890 to Ramaswami Iyer and Lakshmi in the village of Pudu Agraharam near

Thiruvallur
where his sister Kanamma lived. But Sarma never passed his matriculation examinations.

Indian independence movement

Sarma was involved in the

Calcutta where he joined Surendranath Banerjee
and worked for the New India newspaper.

In 1929, Sarma was nominated to the

Viceroy of India
. In the assembly, Sarma was the leader of a faction known as the "Central Party".

Journalism

In 1911, Sarma joined the Bengalee newspaper of Calcutta as a proofreader at a pay of Rs. 15 a month. Two or three months later, he was promoted to sub-editor. He left the Bengalee in 1914 to join New India in Madras. But owing to differences with its editor, B. P. Wadia, Sarma quit the Bengalee and returned to New India. In 1916, Sarma joined the Associated Press and visited the United Kingdom in 1919, where he campaigned in favour of the Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms.

On his return to Calcutta, Sarma worked as editor of the New Empire newspaper and helped increase its popularity. Sarma was made a

Sir John Anderson, Sarma was knighted by Edward VIII. Sarma holds the unique record of being the only person to have been knighted by Edward VIII as the king abdicated shortly afterwards
.

Later politics

On returning to India, Sarma continued to be active in politics. In 1943, as a part of the government's war effort, Sarma was sent to the United States of America representing the government of British India. In the United States, Sarma had a meeting with the President,

Franklin Delano Roosevelt
. Sarma returned to India in 1944 and started a magazine for the East India Railway.

In 1952, Sarma contested in the Lok Sabha elections for the

R. Venkataraman
but lost by a margin of 4,000 votes. Disenchanted, Sarma quit politics with this defeat.

Personal life

Sarma was a lifelong bachelor. In the 1930s, he bought land in the Cauvery Delta and constructed a manor in the English fashion naming it Durgalaya. He also built a temple nearby.

He had a brother and a sister. Sarma took care of his brother's living and wrote over to him 100 Veli's of land. Sarma died on 27 September 1957 at the age of 66 or 67.

References