Madhabhooshi Ananthasayanam Ayyangar was a freedom fighter, lawyer, Parliamentarian and a Constituent Assembly member .

He was a believer of the Gandhian philosophy of non-violence. He worked towards achieving social reforms and worked on the upliftment of the Harijans.

Ayyangar(second from left) along with Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Jawaharlal Nehru | Picture Credits: Flickr

Ayyangar’s political journey officially started in 1922 when he became the Municipal Councilor. He was elected as the member of the Central Legislative Assembly in 1934. His brilliance and exceptional oratory skills earned him the title of “Emden of Assembly” - with reference to the German submarine during the Second World War, which attacked the Allied powers.

Post independence he became the Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha. On 8 March 1956 soon after the demise of the first speaker of the Lok Sabha, Dadasahab Mavlankar, Ayyangar became the Speaker. His observations and rulings on bills, procedures, standing committees, etc continue to remain as a part of parliamentary procedure and practices.

He was deeply interested in music and study of Sanskrit and ancient literature.  Ayyangar contributed in the field of education, where he proved to be an authority on Indology, Sanskrit literature, philosophy and comparative studies — to name a few.

He passed away 40 years ago on 19 March in 1978. In his memory, the Madabhushi Ananthasayanam Institute of Public Affairs (MAIPA) was established under his name and a life-size bronze statue of him was unveiled at Tirupati by Maharashtra Governor S.M. Krishna.

Read more about him here.