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K. R. Narayanan

File:The_official_portrait_of_Shri_Kocheril_Raman_Narayanan,_10th_President_of_the_Republic_of_India.png · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

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K. R. Narayanan

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Also known as Kocheril Raman Narayanan

President of India from 1997 to 2002

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K. R. Narayanan was an Indian politician and diplomat who served as the President of India, Vice President of India, and a Member of the Lok Sabha. Born in Uzhavoor in 1920, he was a member of the Indian National Congress. He received his education at the University of Kerala and the London School of Economics and Political Science. Narayanan was a candidate in the 1997 Indian presidential election.

He was a Hindu who spoke Malayalam as his native language. His spouse was Usha Narayanan, and he had a child named Chitra Narayanan. Narayanan authored works including *Non-alignment in contemporary international relations*, *Images and insights*, *India and America*, *President K.R. Narayanan*, and *Uḷkkāl̲cakaḷ*.

Narayanan died of pneumonia in New Delhi on November 9, 2005. His citizenship included the British Raj, India, and the Dominion of India.

Synthesized by Vinony from 29 facts across 5 sources: Wikidata, Crossref, MusicBrainz, Open Library, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Person · Open Library

Works
7

Top works

  • Non-alignment in contemporary international relations
  • Images and insights
  • India and America
  • President K.R. Narayanan
  • Uḷkkāl̲cakaḷ

via Open Library + Wikidata

Music · MusicBrainz

Type
Person
Country
IN

via MusicBrainz · CC0

Quotes

  • As the President of India, I had lots of experiences that were full of pain and helplessness. There were occasions when I could do nothing for people and for the nation. These experiences have pained me a lot. They have depressed me a lot. I have agonised because of the limitations of power. Power and the helplessness surrounding it are a peculiar tragedy, in fact.
  • I see and understand both the symbolic as well as the substantive elements of my life. Sometimes I visualise it as a journey of an individual from a remote village on the sidelines of society to the hub of social standing. But at the same time I also realise that my life encapsulates the ability of the democratic system to accommodate and empower marginalised sections of society.
  • That the nation has found a consensus for its highest office in some one who has sprung from the grass-roots of our society and grown up in the dust and heat of this sacred land is symbolic of the fact that the concerns of the common man have now moved to the centre stage of our social and political life. It is this larger significance of my election rather than any personal sense of honour that makes me rejoice on this occasion.
  • Indian civilization has had the unique honour of demonstrating to the world that man does not live by bread alone. Cultural, moral and spiritual values have always formed the fundamental underpinning of our society. To-day there are signs of the weakening of the moral and spiritual fibre in our public life with evils of communalism, w:Casteismcasteism, violence and corruption bedevilling our society.
  • India had entertained throughout its history a world vision. Our sages and seers had thought in terms of the happiness of the whole of humanity. And Jawaharlal Nehru had designed a foreign policy for India with a world outlook. We have a role to play in the world and a message to give to the world. We can do that effectively only if we are united and strong and in peace and friendship with our neighbours.
  • [I was] not an executive President but a working President and working within the four corners of the Constitution.

via Wikiquote · CC BY-SA

Wikidata facts

Instance of
human
Gender
male
Place of birth
Uzhavoor
Place of death
New Delhi
Occupation
diplomat
Languages spoken
Malayalam
Native language
Malayalam
Religion
Hinduism
Image
President Clinton with Indian president K. R. Narayanan (cropped).jpg
Show 9 more facts
Commons category
Kocheril Raman Narayanan
date of birth
1920-10-27
date of death
2005-11-09
name in native language
കോച്ചേരില്‍ രാമന്‍ നാരായണന
cause of death
pneumonia
different from
R. K. Narayan
manner of death
natural causes
Sources (4)

via Wikidata · CC0

~40 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Kocheril Raman Narayanan (27 October 1920 – 9 November 2005) was an Indian diplomat, academician, and statesman who served as the president of India from 1997 to 2002 and vice president of India from 1992 to 1997.

Narayanan was born in Perumthanam, Uzhavoor village, in the princely state of Travancore (present day Kottayam district, Kerala) into a Hindu family. After a brief stint with journalism and then studies at the London School of Economics with the assistance of a scholarship, Narayanan began his career in India as a member of the Indian Foreign Service in the Nehru administration. He served as ambassador to a number of countries, most principally to the United States and China, and was referred by Nehru as "the best diplomat of the country". He entered politics at Indira Gandhi's request and won three successive general elections to the Lok Sabha and served as a Minister of State in prime minister Rajiv Gandhi's cabinet. Elected as vice president in 1992, Narayanan went on to become president in 1997 and became the first Dalit to occupy either position.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “K. R. Narayanan” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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