PHILOSOPHER-PRESIDENT

Beyond his scholarly and political accomplishments, many of the most charming and instructive stories about Radhakrishnan come from recollections of his wit and quirky sense of humor.

- TDG NETWORK

Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (born Sept 5, 1888, Tiruttani) grew up in a modest Telugu Brahmin family; his father hoped he'd be a temple priest, but scholarships carried him to Madras Christian College at sixteen, graduating with honors in 1907. A cousin's discarded philosophy textbooks diverted him from mathematics "by chance rather than choice," sparking a thesis on Vedantic ethics at twenty and a lifelong defense of Indian thought. By his early thirties he was publishing widely, from The Philosophy of Rabindranath Tagore (1918) to the two-volume Indian Philosophy (1923-27), establishing him internationally. In 1936 he became the first Indian to hold an Oxford chair—the Spalding Professorship of Eastern Religions and Ethics—while also lecturing abroad (e.g., the 1930 Haskell Lectures at Chicago). For all the eminence, he remained approachable, famed for quick, clarifying wit. As a teacher he inspired unusual devotion: on leaving the University of Mysore, students pulled his carriage to the railway station—a farewell of pure affection.

FAMILY AND PERSONAL LIFE