K. Ramunni Menon

Sir Konkoth Ramunni Menon[1] (14 September 1872 – c. February 1949)[2] was an Indian educator who was the vice chancellor of the University of Madras from 1928 to 1934.[3]

Biography

Menon received a B.A from the University of Madras[3] and proceeded to England for higher study to Christ's College, Cambridge.[4]

He obtained first class honours in both parts of the Natural Sciences Tripos and returned to India after obtaining his M.A.[3]

In 1910 he became professor of zoology at the Presidency College, Madras. The Department of Zoology of University of Madras was established in 1927 and Menon was made its honorary director[5] after he became the vice chancellor of the University of Madras in 1928.

He was knighted in the 1933 New Year Honours list and invested with his knighthood on 3 March 1933 by the Viceroy, the Earl of Willingdon, at New Delhi.[6][7] He served as the vice chancellor up to 1934 and during his time he first introduced music as a subject at Madras University.[4]

Legacy

Menon was invited to preside over the annual Music Academy's Sadas in 1944 and was also one of the founding fathers of the Tamil Isai Sangam.[4] He is also the maternal grandfather of musicologist Indira Menon.[4]

He first proposed in a letter to G. H. Hardy dated 28 July 1920 to pay Ramanujan's wife a monthly annuity of 20 rupees per month for handing over her husband's documents.[8]

A species of amphibian, Menon's caecilian (Uraeotyphlus menoni), is named for him.[9]

References
  1. Burke, Sir Bernard, ed. (1939). Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knighthood (97th ed.). Burke's Peerage & Gentry. p. 2857.
  2. "Obituary". The Times. The Times Digital Archive. 5 February 1949. p. 6.
  3. Srinivasa Ramanujan Aiyangar (1995). Ramanujan: Letters and Commentary. American Mathematical Soc. pp. 257–. ISBN 978-0-8218-9125-4. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  4. Viju, K. N. "Recording rarities". The Hindu. Retrieved 19 August 2005.
  5. Uma Dasgupta (2011). Science and Modern India: An Institutional History, C. 1784-1947. Pearson Education India. pp. 685–. ISBN 978-81-317-2818-5. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  6. The London Gazette, 2 January 1933
  7. The London Gazette, 11 April 1933
  8. Bruce C. Berndt; Robert Alexander Rankin (2001). Ramanujan: Essays and Surveys. American Mathematical Soc. pp. 135–. ISBN 978-0-8218-2624-9. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  9. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael & Grayson, Michael (2013). The Eponym Dictionary of Amphibians. Pelagic Publishing. p. 140. ISBN 978-1-907807-42-8.
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