Mohan Kumaramangalam

Surendra Mohan Kumaramangalam (சுரேந்திர மோகன் குமாரமங்கலம்; 1 November 1916 — 31 May 1973) was an Indian politician and communist theorist who was a member of the Communist Party of India, and later, the Indian National Congress.He also served as Advocate-General for Madras State from 1966 to 1967. Kumaramangalam was killed in the crash of Indian Airlines Flight 440 on May 31, 1973, at the age of 56. Mohan Kumaramangalam was born in London to P. Subbarayan, then zamindar of Kumaramangalam in Thiruchengode Taluk, Namakkal district and later, Chief Minister of Madras Presidency and his wife, Radhabai Subbarayan on 1 November 1916. He was their third and youngest son, Paramasiva Prabhakar Kumaramangalam and Gopal Kumaramangalam being elder to him. Kumaramangalam was educated at Eton and King's College, Cambridge, serving as President of the Cambridge Union Society in 1938. During his period at Cambridge he was deeply influenced by Communism. Kumaramangalam was called to the bar by the Inner Temple. He returned to India in 1939 and participated in the Indian Independence Movement. In 1941, Kumaramangalam was arrested along with P. Ramamurthi, C. S. Subramaniam and R. Umanath for distributing seditious pamphlets in what came to be known as the Madras Conspiracy Case. Kumaramangalam was later released. During the Second World War Kumaramangalam served as the editor of the communist magazine, People's War, which on the conclusion of hostilities he renamed as People's Age. In the days following India's independence Madras Presidency was gripped by a peasant rebellion, which compelled the provincial government to launch a crackdown on communists. Kumaramangalam was arrested along with other communist leaders and released after the rebellion had subsided. Kumaramangalam favoured friendly relations with the Soviet Union and established the Indo-Soviet Cultural Society. However, with the onset of the 1960s Kumaramangalam began distancing himself from communism. He served as Advocate General of Madras.