S. Sathyamurthy, the publicist of the Indian National Congress during the thirties of the century, was born on 19 August 1887, in a middle class Brahmin family at Thirumayam, Pudukottah State, at present merged with the Thiruchirapalli district of Tamil Nadu. His father was a lawyer and a very cultured man. The great care and attention with which he was brought up by his parents stood him in good stead in his later life.

The prodigious energy with which he worked and the meticulous care with which he prepared and marshaled his arguments are perhaps the legacies of his early training. After his preliminary education in his home town, he had his higher education at the Maharaja’s College, Pudukottah, and at the Christian College, Madras. After serving as a teacher for a few years at the Madras Christian College, he studied law, an after a successful career at the Law College, Madras, he set up practice at the metropolis.

His was a career of promise, and if he had been destined to devote his unmingled attention to his profession, he would have reaped all the greatest rewards the profession might give. But the tumultuous days of politics in India after the entry of Mahatma Gandhi in 1919 drew him away from his profession. As early as 1919, he made his debut at the Kanchipuram Conference of the Tamil Nadu Congress, presided over by Sarojini Naidu.

Satyamurthy took up the cudgels against Annie Besant and her associates and won the day. It marks the beginning of his eventful career in Indian politics. The Congress of those days looked towards his as a shining star for its publicity work. His eloquence, both in English and Tamil, enabled the message of the Indian National Congress to be heard both in the Council Chambers and at mass rallies.

When a deputation of Indian National Congress visited England in 1919, Satyamurthy was in it. In 1925, when a similar mission was sent to England and Ireland for publicizing the cause of the Congress, Satyamurthy was again included. In England Satyamurthy from a number of platforms and his speeches were intensely patriotic and eloquent. They served to gradually convert the English mind to the Congress point of view. He was elected to Madras Legislative Council in 1923, under the Swarajya Party ticket. He was a dominant figure in the Opposition.

His activities and speeches in the Madras Legislative Council during 1923-30 were a powerful indictment of the Justice Party. He violently crossed swords with the leaders of the Justice Party and emerged victorious. As a member of the Legislature, Satyamurthy was a great favourite on numerous platforms. He would by turns speak in the Legislative Council, address his own partymen behind closed doors, enthuse students in their stormy gatherings, address the masses in their mammoth gatherings on the sands of the Madras beach, or exchange sophistries in the Cultural and Ladies clubs.

On every such occasion, Satyamurthy would suit his oratory to the audience and, at the end, his oratorical performance would leave a lasting tingling effect in the ears of the hearers. He would coo live a dove in select places, and when the occasion demanded, he would roar like a lion. That was Satyamurthy’s oratory.

In 1930, at the call of Mahatma Gandhi, Satyamurthy threw himself heart and soul into the Satyagraha Movement. He was imprisoned in 1931 and 1932. In 1935 he was elected to the Indian Legislative Assembly at Delhi. His performance in the Indian Legislative Assembly revealed yet another streak of his personality. In the Legislative Assembly he served under the leadership of Bhulabhai Desai. Satyamurthy was the Deputy Leader of the Congress Party in the Assembly.

The question hour at the Indian Legislative Assembly was his hour of fireworks display. By his scintillating

brilliance in putting supplementary questions, by his wit and repartees, Satyamurthy would lay bare the hollowness of the official line. To the official section of the Legislative Assembly, which was usually represented by the British bureaucracy, Satyamurthy was an anathema; Satyamurthy’s repartees were dagger thrusts for them. They nicknamed him ‘Supplemurthy’ in order to exhibit their distaste to his supplementary questions.

When Provincial Autonomy was inaugurated in 1937 under the 1935 Constitution, Satyamurthy carried on a relentless election campaign for the Indian National Congress. At this juncture, he pressed into its service his oratory and his undoubted sway over the masses. The use of gramophone records for the Congress election publicity work and his skilful management of Pandit Jawaharlas Nehru’s whirlwind tour for the purpose, eventually, resulted in a phenomenal victory of the Congress in the then Madras Province, as compared to the other Provinces in India.

At the end of it all, when he looked forward for the prize post of the Premier of the Madras Province under the Provincial Autonomy, he was not to get it. Satyamurthy was very much upset and he was very aggrieved man; yet he carried on with an unflinching loyalty to the party; always publicizing the cause of the Congress from innumerable platforms and enlisting support for the Congress Government functioning under the 1935 Constitution in a number of Provinces of India. In 1939, at the call of Mahatma Gandhi, the Congress Ministries resigned in protest against Imperialist War. Gandhiji offered individual satyagraha. As a devotee of Gandhiji, Satyamurthy was also imprisoned under his symbolic Satyagraha in 1940.

After his release in 1941, he became the Mayor of Madras for a year. He worked with tremendous energy during his tenure of office. He declared that he wanted to make Madras “the City Beautiful” and worked with zeal for the solution of the water supply problem of the city. At this initiative, the foundations for the Poondi water supply scheme took shape.

In 1942 he joined the Quit India Movement and was imprisoned. Satyamurthy was not only a politician but also an educationist. He was an active member of the Syndicate of the Madras University. He was also associated with the starting of the Annamalai University in 1929. He gave a very active support for the Bill to launch the Annamalai University.

Satyamurthy was also a connoisseur of art. He could appreciate the latent talents of the musicians and on many occasions helped them to attain the fame they deserved. He had as his life-long friend Srimati K.B. Sunddarambal, a musician of repute, who was always wont to call him her brother

He loved the good things in life. He wanted comforts. But when he was not able to get them to the full, he never stooped to wangle them by any means, fair or foul. Under such circumstances he was not angry, but would stick to his path of service with a stoic resignation.

During his long political career he had been the godfather of many later-day politicians. He always knew the coming man. The support and encouragement which he gave to Kamaraj, Rajagopalachari, Kalkai Krishnamurthy and many others prepared them for their future momentous careers and gave them a poise in their lives.

In the evening of his life, Satyamurthy stayed for a few months at the Annamalai University campus, reading and writing. His health by this time was giving way. In his mind, the upbringing of his darling daughters was of immediate concern. When his health deteriorated further, he returned to Madras for better medical treatment, where he passed away on 20 March 1943.

His life is a long essay of a person who rose to prominence by dint of ability and who for want of adventitious aids did not succeed in getting all the prizes he deserved.