S. Muthiah

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For the politician from Tamil Nadu, see
S. Muthiah (MLA)
.

In this Indian name, the name Subbiah is a patronymic, and the person should be referred to by the given name, Muthiah.
Subbiah Muthiah

British India
Died20 April 2019(2019-04-20) (aged 89)
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
NationalityIndian
Occupationjournalist
EmployerT. T. K. Maps
Known forbooks on the History of Chennai, conservation activities
TitleMBE
SpouseValliammai Muthiah (1950–2013) m. 1969 till her death
ChildrenRanjani,
Parvathi

Subbiah Muthiah MBE (13 April 1930 – 20 April 2019)[1] was an Indian writer, journalist, cartographer, amateur historian and heritage activist known for his writings on the political and cultural history of Chennai city.[2] He was the founder of the fortnightly newspaper Madras Musings and the principal organizer of the annual Madras Day celebrations. Muthiah was also the founder-President of the Madras Book Club.

Early life and education

Muthiah was born in

British India in a Nagarathar family on 13 April 1930.[3] Muthiah had his early schooling in Ladies' College, S. Thomas' Preparatory School and Royal College in Colombo[4] and completed his matriculation in India in 1946 at Montfort European School, Yercaud
. Between 1946 and 1951, Muthiah studied arts and engineering in the United States of America and returned to Ceylon after obtaining his master's degree in International Relations in 1951.

With The Times of Ceylon

On his return to Ceylon, Muthiah took up a job with The Times of Ceylon and served the newspaper for 17 years eventually rising to the second position in the newspaper's hierarchy and heading the weekly Sunday edition.[5] When the citizenship laws of the country were amended in 1968, Muthiah, who was not yet a citizen of Ceylon lost his job and had to move to India.[3][5]

In India

Muthiah settled down in the city of Madras and took up a job with T. T. K. Maps, a newly formed cartographic division of T. T. K. Healthcare Ltd where he was tasked with preparation of tourist guides and books on South India.[3][6] In 1981, Muthiah wrote his first book Madras Discovered based on the research he had done to prepare tourist guides on Madras city.[3][7] He followed it with two more books on Madras and one each on Parry's and Simpson's Ltd.

Post-retirement

On his retirement from T. T. K. Maps in 1990, Muthiah took up writing full-time and founded the fortnightly newspaper Madras Musings.

Fort St. George by Andrew Cogan and Francis Day
on 22 August 1639.

In 2011, Muthiah published the book Madras Miscellany, a collection of articles from weekly columns of the same name that he had written for The Hindu since November 1999.[8] Muthiah also volunteered to edit the gazetteer on Chennai that was commissioned by the British Council through the Association of British Scholars, India Chapter. Volume one of the 3-volume gazetteer titled Madras, Chennai: A 400 year record of the first city of Modern India on "The Land, People and Governance" and volume two on "Services, Education and the Economy" were published in 2008 and 2014 respectively and a third on "Information, Culture and Entertainment" was under preparation.

Honors

On 7 March 2002, Muthiah was made an "Honorary Member of the Civil Division of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire".[10][11] The award was presented to him by Michael Herrige, British High Commissioner to India at a function in Chennai.[10] The citation read that the award was presented for "service by those who are not British citizens but who have pursued ideals which Britain values and shares".[10]

Personal life

Muthiah's father, N. M. Subbiah Chettiar (1905–2002)

House of Representatives of Ceylon from the Nuwara Eliya constituency in 1947 and lost.[13]

Muthiah married Valliammai Achi (1950–2013) in 1969.[14] The couple had two daughters Ranjani and Parvathi.[14] Valliammai worked as a Company Secretary till her death in 2013.[14] Muthiah lived in Chennai where he spent most of his day on his desk. After spending the evening at the Madras Club, he used to retire to his home, where he had two glasses of Indian whisky before dinner.

Criticism

At the inauguration of the 2009 edition of the

Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu regretted the fact that Muthiah's book Madras Rediscovered did not make even a passing mention of the tenures of C. N. Annadurai or himself.[15]

Works

References

  1. ^ Rao, manasa (20 April 2019). "Master chronicler of Madras no more: S Muthiah passes away at 89". Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  2. ^ "Chennai". lifeinchennai.com. Retrieved 27 July 2009.
  3. ^ a b c d e Gautam, Savita (3 November 2002). "Crusader for Chennai". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 28 February 2004.
  4. ^ Muthiah, S. "GO, THORA, GO; THOMIANS BECOME ASIAN SCHOOLS ROWING CHAMPIONS" (PDF). St Thomas' College, Gurutalawa.
  5. ^ a b Ghosh, Bishwanath (4 April 2011). "Muthiah Discovered". The Hindu.
  6. ISSN 0971-751X
    . Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  7. ISSN 0971-751X
    . Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  8. ^
    ISSN 0971-751X
    . Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  9. ISSN 0971-751X
    . Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  10. ^ a b c "Muthiah Honoured". The Hindu. 8 March 2002. Archived from the original on 28 November 2004.
  11. ^ Chennai Online
  12. ^ "Obituary : Wednesday, June 05, 2002". The Hindu. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  13. ^ a b "Subbiah Muthiah". Viator Publications. Archived from the original on 4 August 2009.
  14. ^ a b c Sriram, V. (18 September 2013). "The chronicler loses his companion". The Hindu.
  15. ^ "Chief Minister inaugurates Chennai Book Fair". The Hindu. Retrieved 1 January 2010.
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