Periyar Erode Venkata Ramasamy (Tamil: பெரியார், Kannada: ಪೆರಿಯಾರ್) (September 17, 1879 – December 24, 1973), also known as Ramaswami, EVR, Thanthai Periyar, or Periyar, was a Dravidian social activist, who founded the Self-Respect Movement and Dravidar Kazhagam.
Periyar was born in the Town of Erode, Tamil Nadu to a wealthy Nayakar family. At a young age, he witnessed numerous incidents of racial, caste and gender discrimination. Periyar married...
more
Periyar Erode Venkata Ramasamy (Tamil: பெரியார், Kannada: ಪೆರಿಯಾರ್) (September 17, 1879 – December 24, 1973), also known as Ramaswami, EVR, Thanthai Periyar, or Periyar, was a Dravidian social activist, who founded the Self-Respect Movement and Dravidar Kazhagam.
Periyar was born in the Town of Erode, Tamil Nadu to a wealthy Nayakar family. At a young age, he witnessed numerous incidents of racial, caste and gender discrimination. Periyar married when he was 19, and had a daughter who lived for only 5 months. His first wife, Nagammai, died in 1933. Periyar married for a second time in July 1948. His second wife, Maniammai (also called Maniammai Ammaiyar), continued Periyar's social work after his death in 1973, but still his thoughts and ideas were being spread by Dravidar Kazhagam.
Periyar joined the Indian National Congress in 1919, but resigned in 1925 when he felt that the party was only serving the interests of the Brahmins. In 1924, Periyar led a non-violent agitation ...
less
