M.P. Veerendrakumar

Born on 22 July 1936 in Kalpetta, Wayanad district, Kerala, M.P. Veerendrakumar has a Master’s degree in Philosophy from Vivekananda College, Chennai and an M.B.A. from Cincinnati University, Ohio, U.S.A. He is the Chairman and Managing Director of Mathrubhumi. He has thrice served as the chairperson of the Press Trust of India, presently a director; as former president of the Indian Newspaper Society, presently executive committee member; and currently a trustee of the Press Institute of India, member of the International Press Institute, the Commonwealth Press Union and the World Association of Newspapers Executive Committee. He took membership in the Socialist Party from Jayaprakash Narayan, was imprisoned during the Emergency; served as minister for forests for
one day and as an MLA in the Kerala Assembly. He served in the Union Cabinets of Deve Gowda and I.K. Gujral, as president of the Kerala unit of JD (U), and is also a member of the Rajya Sabha. He is largely inspired by Ram Manohar Lohia. Author of twenty one works in Malayalam, Veerendrakumar’s works have also been translated into Hindi and Tamil. He has been conferred nearly 100 awards, including the Kendra and Kerala Sahitya Akademi awards, the Moortidevi Award, instituted by the Bharatiya Jnanpith, a fellowship by Kerala Sahitya Akademi and the Kusumanjali Sahitya Samman.