UpdateBot at 06:44, 30 June 2022

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{{Infobox person
| name = Barrister G. P. Pillai
| image = GpPillai.jpg
| birth_name = Govindan Parameswaran Pillai
| native_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1864|02|02}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1903|05|21|1864|02|02}}
| birth_place = Pallippuram, Thiruvananthapuram
| occupation = Social reformer
}}

'''Govindan Parameswaran Pillai, of Pallichal''' (1864–1903), commonly known as '''Barrister G. P. Pillai''', was born on February 2, 1864, in [[Pallippuram, Thiruvananthapuram]], [[India]] in an aristocratic [[Nair]] family<ref>Page 427 of Nayar Samudayathinte Itihasam (History of the Society of Nairs in Kerala) Published by Sahitya Vedi, Trivandrum, December 1987 accessed at India Office Records</ref> His parents were Hariharan Iyer and Karthyayani Amma.

After gaining a [[Bachelor of Arts|B.A.]] at the Madras [[Presidency College, Chennai|Presidency College]]<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Thiruvananthapuram/setting-an-old-record-straight/article8291815.ece| title = Setting an old record straight - The Hindu}} </ref> he was admitted to the [[Middle Temple]] in [[London]] in 1898. He was [[called to the bar]] of [[Travancore|Travancore Highcourt]] in 1902.<ref>''Middle Temple Admission Register'', vol 2 (London 1949)</ref> He later established the first English language newspaper in [[South India]], ''[[The Madras Standard]].'' During the stay at [[Madras]] he used to write in [[The Hindu]]. He played a major role in the formation of ''Malayali Memorial'' in 1891.

He is the he only [[Malayali]] whom the Mahatma Gandhi has mentioned in his autobiography.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Nair|first=C. Gouridasan|date=2014-02-25|title=Malayali who found a place in Gandhi's heart, biography|language=en-IN|work=The Hindu|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/malayali-who-found-a-place-in-gandhis-heart-biography/article5723418.ece|access-date=2021-03-09|issn=0971-751X}}</ref>

== Participation in Indian freedom struggle ==
The formation of the [[Indian National Congress]] in 1885 led to increased agitation for Indian independence from [[British India|British rule]]. {{nobreak|G. P. Pillai}} was the earliest leader of the organisation from [[Kerala]], and twice served as its General Secretary. He was well known as editor of the ''Madras Standard'' and as an activist for civil rights in [[Travancore State]]. A forceful writer and orator, he had wide contacts in Britain as well as India. [[Mahatma Gandhi]] acknowledged the help and guidance given to him by Pillai in the [[Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi in South Africa|South African Indian issue]] and also in the [[temperance movement]].<ref>Perunna K. N. Nair, [http://pib.nic.in/feature/feyr98/fe0798/PIBF0707981.html Freedom Movement in Kerala – A Ray of Liberation]. ''Features'', Press Information Bureau, Government of India. Retrieved 20 January 2014.</ref><ref>Mohandas K. Gandhi, [http://www.wikilivres.ca/wiki/The_Story_of_My_Experiments_with_Truth/Part_II/Poona_and_Madras Poona and Madras] in his autobiography, ''[[The Story of My Experiments with Truth]]''</ref>

During his stay in Madras he drafted the ‘Travancore Memorial’ (also known as ‘Malayali Memorial’).<ref>{{cite web |last1=Nair |first1=Achuthsankar S. |title=In the footsteps of saints, poets and reformers |url=https://www.thehindu.com/society/history-and-culture/the-great-men-who-hailed-from-places-in-and-around-kazhakuttam/article24655762.ece |website=The Hindu |access-date=10 March 2021 |language=en-IN |date=10 August 2018}}</ref>

== See also ==

* [[Narayana Guru|Sree Narayana Guru]]
* [[Padmanabhan Palpu|Dr. Palpu]]
* [[Kumaran Asan|Kumaranasan]]
* [[Ayyathan Gopalan|Rao Sahib Dr. Ayyathan Gopalan]]
* [[Brahmananda Swami Sivayogi]]
* [[Vagbhatananda|Vaghbhatananda]]
* [[Mithavaadi Krishnan]]
* [[Moorkoth Kumaran]]
* [[Ayyankali]]
* [[Ayya Vaikundar]]
* [[Pandit Karuppan]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pillai, G. P.}}
[[Category:1864 births]]
[[Category:1903 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian lawyers]]
[[Category:Journalists from Kerala]]
[[Category:Indian barristers]]
[[Category:English barristers]]
[[Category:Members of the Middle Temple]]
[[Category:Malayali people]]
[[Category:People from Thiruvananthapuram district]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian journalists]]
[[Category:Indian male journalists]]
[[Category:Presidency College, Chennai alumni]]
[[Category:19th-century English lawyers]]

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G. P. Pillai - Revision history

UpdateBot at 06:44, 30 June 2022