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{{short description|Indian historian (1925-2010)}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}}
{{Infobox person
| name = A. Sreedhara Menon
| caption = A. Sreedhara Menon
| image = A._Sreedhara_Menon.jpg
| birth_date = {{birth date|1925|12|18|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Kingdom of Cochin]], [[British India]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|2010|7|23|1925|12|18|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Thiruvananthapuram]], [[Kerala]], [[India]]
| occupation =
*Historian
*Academic
*University Registrar
| alma_mater =
* [[Maharaja's College, Ernakulam|Maharaja's College, Cochin]] (Bachelor's Degree – English)
* [[Madras University]] (Master's Degree – History)
* [[Harvard University]] (Master's Degree – Political Science)
| notable_works =
* ''Kerala District Gazetteers (Editor, 1958–1968)''
* ''Triumph and Tragedy in Travancore: Annals of Sir CPs Sixteen Years'' (2001)
* ''A Survey of Kerala History'' (1967)
| awards = [[Padma Bhushan]]
}}
'''Alappat Sreedhara Menon''' (18 December 1925 – 23 July 2010), known as '''A. Sreedhara Menon''', was an Indian historian from [[Kerala]].<ref name=":0">[https://web.archive.org/web/20090203074233/http://ibnlive.in.com/news/isro-chief-aishwarya-dhoni-among-padma-winners/83676-3.html Padma Bhushan Prof Alappat Sreedhara Menon, Literature & Education (Kerala)]</ref> He is best known as the State Editor (1958–68) of Kerala District Gazetteers (1961–1975). He served as registrar of the Kerala University from 1968 to 1977, before retiring in 1980.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090203082200/http://hindu.com/2009/01/26/stories/2009012659480100.htm Prominent Keralites honoured with Padma awards]</ref>

==Life and education==
Alappat Sreedhara Menon was born on 18 December 1925 in [[Ernakulam]], in the [[Kingdom of Cochin]] ([[British India]]). His parents were Kovilakathu Parambil Padmanabha Menon and Alappat Narayani Amma.<ref name="hindu">{{cite news |work=The Hindu |title=A. Sreedhara Menon dead |date=24 July 2010 |url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-kerala/A.-Sreedhara-Menon-dead/article16208463.ece |access-date=14 July 2017 |archive-date=11 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200111232910/https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-kerala/A.-Sreedhara-Menon-dead/article16208463.ece |url-status=live }}</ref>

Menon passed the [[Secondary School Leaving Certificate]] in 1941 with First Class and proceeded to the [[University of Madras]] where he passed the Intermediate Examination in 1942 with Distinction in Hindi, Indian History, and Modem History. In 1944, supported by the a scholarship from the king of Cochin, he completed his Bachelor of Arts from the [[Maharaja's College, Ernakulam|Maharaja's College]], Cochin, winning the Karimpat Rama Menon Gold Medal and the Rama Varma Shashtiabdapurthi Memorial Prize for English. He then continued his [[Master of Arts]] at Madras University completing it in 1948 with a First Rank in History. He completed his MA in Political Science, specialising in International Relations from Harvard University in 1953 with the backing of a Fulbright travel grant and a SmithMundt Scholarship.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|title=A brilliant historian, academician|url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/thiruvananthapuram/2010/jul/24/a-brilliant-historian-academician-172474.html|access-date=2021-09-01|website=The New Indian Express|archive-date=1 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210901054814/https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/thiruvananthapuram/2010/jul/24/a-brilliant-historian-academician-172474.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

From 1944 to 1949, he worked in [[St. Thomas College, Thrissur|St. Thomas College, Trichur]] and subsequently joined the [[University College, Thiruvananthapuram|University College, Trivandrum]] in 1949 in the Department of History and Politics.<ref name=":1">B. Sobhanan, "Prof. A Sreedhara Menon, Profile of a Historian", in [https://books.google.com/books?id=z4JqgSUSXDsC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false A Panorama of Indian culture – Professor A. Sreedhara Menon Felicitation Volume] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160129095433/https://books.google.com/books?id=z4JqgSUSXDsC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false |date=29 January 2016 }}, K. K. Kusuman, pp 1–4.</ref>

Menon received [[Padma Bhushan]], India's third-highest civilian honour, for Literature and Education in 2009.<ref name=":0" />

Menon died on 23 July 2010, aged 84, after some years of suffering ill-health. He was survived by his wife, Sarojini Menon, and two children.<ref name="outlook" />

==Academic career==
In 1953, Sreedhara Menon was granted the Smith Mundt Scholarship and the [[Fulbright Grant|Fulbright Travel Grant]] by the US Educational Foundation in India for higher studies at [[Harvard University]] where he obtained his master's degree in [[political science|Political Science]], specialising in [[International Relations]].<ref name=":1" />

On his return to India, he was appointed by the Government of Kerala as the first State Editor of Kerala District Gazetteers in 1958. During the next ten years, Menon compiled eight volumes of District Gazetteers (out of nine districts of Kerala)<ref name=":2">Kerala council for Historical Research – Catalogue of Publications – District Gazetteers- authentic account of Geography, History, Culture and Resources</ref> – Trivandrum (1961), Trichur (1961), Calicut (1962), Quilon (1964), Ernakulam (1965), Alleppey (1968), Cannanore (1972), and Kottayam (1975).

From 1968 to 1977, Menon functioned as the Registrar of [[Kerala University]]. He worked as a visiting professor in the Department of History, [[University of Calicut]] under the UGC scheme from 1977 to 1978. From 1979 to 1981 he was a professor in the Institute of Public Administration (now the Institute of Management) under the [[Government of Kerala]].<ref name=":3" /> Menon was a member of the editorial board of journals including the ''Journal of Indian History'' and ''Journal of Kerala Studies'', both published by the Department of History, University of Kerala. In 2000 Menon was elected the President of Visakhapatnam South Indian History Congress.

==Political views==
Menon was known for his opposition to the [[Communist Party of India (Marxist)|Marxist Communist Party of India]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/states/kerala/story/19981130-ichr-member-lashes-out-at-panel-of-editors-chosen-to-write-cultural-history-of-kerala-827455-1998-11-30|title=ICHR member lashes out at panel of editors chosen to write cultural history of Kerala|first=M. G.|last=Radhakrishnan|date=30 November 1998|website=India Today|language=en|access-date=1 March 2019|archive-date=1 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190301201612/https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/states/kerala/story/19981130-ichr-member-lashes-out-at-panel-of-editors-chosen-to-write-cultural-history-of-kerala-827455-1998-11-30|url-status=live}}</ref>

Menon refused to write a history of Indian anti-colonial movement in Kerala for the [[Indian National Congress|Congress Party]] because he "did not want to be known as a historian of the Congress".<ref>[https://archive.today/20120525050840/http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=Truth+is+sacrosanct&artid=2ljLgS1BHzE=&SectionID=lMx/b5mt1kU=&MainSectionID=lMx/b5mt1kU=&SectionName=tm2kh5uDhixGlQvAG42A/07OVZOOEmts&SEO=Kerala Indian Express: Thiruvananthapuram "Truth is sacrosanct"], Tiki Rajwi, 18 December 2009</ref> The [[Communist Party of India (Marxist)]]-led coalition government in Kerala requested Menon in 1997 to write on Indian anti-colonial movement in Kerala "in consultation with [[E. M. S. Namboodiripad]]". The book was never published by the Government of Kerala and Menon withdrew from the task. He remarked on the issue, "It is not an objective historian's job to collect facts to suit theories. A true historian is a judge and not a lawyer... politicians can act only as lawyers."<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.rediff.com/news/jun/26kerala.htm |title=Marxist theories do not make history: Kerala historian |access-date=8 March 2010 |archive-date=24 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100524050840/http://www.rediff.com/news/jun/26kerala.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="hindu" />

==Awards==
*Scholarship from the Maharaja of Cochin (1944)
*Smith Mundt Scholarship and the [[Fulbright Grant|Fulbright Travel Grant]] (1953)
*1990: INDIS award from the Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies, Thiruvananthapuram
*1999: Senior Fellowship ICHR
*2000: National Fellowship ICHR
*2009: [[Padma Bhushan]] for Literature and Education<ref name="Padma Awards">{{cite web|url=http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf |title=Padma Awards |publisher=Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India |date=2015 |access-date=21 July 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015193758/http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf |archive-date=15 October 2015 }}</ref>

==Publications==
Sreedhara Menon published nearly 25 books in English and [[Malayalam]].<ref name="outlook">{{cite news|title=Historian A Sreedhara Menon Dies|url=https://www.outlookindia.com/newswire/story/historian-a-sreedhara-menon-dies/688269|access-date=10 July 2017|publisher=Outlook|date=23 July 2010|archive-date=2 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190302024521/https://www.outlookindia.com/newswire/story/historian-a-sreedhara-menon-dies/688269|url-status=live}}</ref>

; English
* Kerala District Gazetteers (Editor, 1958–1968)
**Trivandrum (1961)
**Trichur (1961)
**Calicut (1962)
**Quilon (1964)
**Ernakulam (1965)
**Alleppey (1968)
**Cannanore (1972)
**Kottayam (1975).
*{{cite book|last1=Menon|first1=A. Sreedhara|author-mask=0|title=A Survey of Kerala History|date=1967|publisher=Sahitya Pravarthaka Co-operative Society|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N7WaZe2PBy8C|language=en|oclc=555508146}}
* {{cite book|last1=Menon|first1=A. Sreedhara|author-mask=0|title=Cultural Heritage of Kerala: An Introduction|date=1978|publisher=East-West Publications|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1PgJAQAAIAAJ|language=en|oclc=475358916}}
*{{cite book|last1=Menon|first1=A. Sreedhara|author-mask=0|title=Social and cultural history of Kerala|date=1979|publisher=Sterling|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BXluAAAAMAAJ|language=en|oclc=6629548}}
*''The Legacy of Kerala (1983)''
*''A Political History of Modern Kerala (1987)''
*''Kerala History and its Makers (1987)''
*''A Concise History of Modern Kerala (1987)''
*''Modern India – A History Since 1707''
*''Triumph and Tragedy in Travancore: Annals of Sir CPs Sixteen Years (2001)''

; Malayalam
*''Kerala Charithram and Samskaram (1967)''
*''Kerala Charithra Shilpikal''

==See also==
* [[M. G. S. Narayanan]]
* [[K. N. Panikkar]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{PadmaBhushanAwardRecipients 2000–09}}
{{Padma Award winners of Kerala}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Menon, A. Sreedhara}}
[[Category:1925 births]]
[[Category:2010 deaths]]
[[Category:Harvard University alumni]]
[[Category:Maharaja's College, Ernakulam alumni]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in literature & education]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian historians]]
[[Category:University College Thiruvananthapuram faculty]]
[[Category:University of Madras alumni]]
[[Category:University of Kerala faculty]]
[[Category:University of Calicut faculty]]
[[Category:Scholars from Kerala]]
[[Category:Malayalam-language writers]]
[[Category:Writers from Kochi]]
[[Category:Indian male writers]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian historians]]
[[Category:Historians of Kerala]]

A. Sreedhara Menon - Revision history

UpdateBot at 01:51, 10 June 2022