Teachers' Day 2024: Interesting Facts About Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan

Teachers' Day is celebrated across India on September 5 every year. This day also marks the birth anniversary of Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, who was an esteemed educationist, the first Vice-President of India and the second President of India. He was also a scholar, teacher and renowned philosopher. His personality evoked great respect from his students. It was he who suggested to a group of students, who were eager to celebrate his birthday, to observe it as Teachers' Day. So, ever since 1962, schools and higher educational institutions across India observe the day by paying tribute to Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and also to all the teachers in the nation who toil to help students learn.

Here are some interesting facts about Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan: 

• Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was born on September 5, 1888, in a middle-class family in Thiruthani, Tamil Nadu. He was an outstanding student and studied philosophy at Christian College, Madras. 
• Dr Radhakrishnan taught at various colleges - from the University of Mysore to the University of Calcutta. He was appointed as the Vice-Chancellor of Andhra University, Delhi University as well as Banaras Hindu University. 
• He was the first Indian to hold a chair at the University of Oxford - the Spalding Professor of Eastern Religion and Ethics (1936-1952). In 1930, he was also appointed Haskell lecturer in Comparative Religion at the University of Chicago. 
• Dr Radhakrishnan led the Indian delegation to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and was elected chairman of UNESCO's executive board in 1948. 
• Dr Radhakrishnan became the first Vice President of India in 1952 and the second President of India in 1962. 
• He was awarded the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian honour in the country in 1954. 
• Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was nominated 27 times for the Nobel Prize; sixteen times for the Nobel prize in literature, and eleven times for the Nobel Peace prize.
• His works include Indian Philosophy, (1923-27), The Philosophy of the Upanishads (1924), An Idealist View of Life (1932), Eastern Religions and Western Thought (1939), and East and West: Some Reflections (1955). 

Notably, Teachers' Day marks the birth anniversary of Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan as well. When Dr Radhakrishnan served as the President of India from 1962 to 1967, his students and friends asked him to let them celebrate his birthday on September 5. While he did not agree to a pompous celebration,  Dr Radhakrishnan said he would be happier if the day was marked as Teachers' Day. So, since 1962, Teachers' Day is celebrated on 5 September every year.