hirravoori Yajneswara Chintamani was an Indian editor, journalist, liberal politician, and parliamentarian of the early 20th century.

Chirravoori Yajneswara Chintamani – Indian Journalist and Politician

Sir Chirravoori Yajneswara Chintamani was an Indian editor, journalist, liberal politician, and parliamentarian of the early 20th century.

Early Life 

Chintamani was born on 10 April 1880(on the Telugu New Year’s Day (ugadi)) at Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh, India. His parents were among the migrants from the drought-stricken Kanuru Agraharam near Tanuku.

He was called the “Pope of Indian Journalism” by noted Indian statesman Sri V. S. Srinivasa Sastri.

A student of the Maharajah’s College (where Gurazada Appa Rao also taught), a very young man in his teens, Chintamani was contributing to the English weekly called The Telugu Harp published from the Fort City. 

Career of Chirravoori Yajneswara Chintamani

At the age of 18, he became the editor of the newspaper Vizag Spectator. He eventually bought the paper and renamed it: Indian Herald. Running a newspaper (even those days) was not easy. Chintamani was forced to close down. But this failure proved to be a stepping stone for his talent. He was spotted by Sachchidananda Sinha of Allahabad. 

In 1903 Chintamani joined him in The Indian People. Allahabad in those days was the hub of Nationalist activity. The Pioneer of those days was believed to have no nationalist sympathies and a daily paper was considered an immediate necessity. Sir Chintamani also worked with Madras Standard under the editorship of G Subramania Iyer.

He worked as Chief editor of the Allahabad-based newspaper- The Leader– between 1909 and 1934. His encounter with Motilal Nehru, Chairman of the Board of Directors over the issue of his freedom as editor, meant that Motilal left within a year. Thereafter between 1927 and 1936, Chintamani was not only the Chief Editor of the newspaper but also the leader of the opposition in the U. P. Legislative Council.

Chintamani was elected as the Education Minister of the United Provinces of British India as a part of the Dyarchy scheme of the Government of India Act 1919. He was invited as a delegate to the First Round Table Conference in London in 1930-1931.

Chirravoori Yajneswara Chintamani inspiring the Leaders

Mahatma Gandhi and the British administrators and the Indian People were greatly inspired by his editorials. He was knighted in the 1939 Birthday Honours list. his knighthood was formally conferred by George VI on 20 September.

Related Posts

Leave a Reply

%d bloggers like this: