Raghavan N. Iyer

Infobox Person
name = Raghavan Narasimhan Iyer


image_size = 180px
birth_date = birth date|1930|3|10
birth_place = Madras, India
death_date = death date and age|1995|6|20|1930|3|10
occupation = Academic, Philosopher
nationality = Indian
spouse = Nandini Nanak Mehta
children = Pico Iyer

Raghavan Narasimhan Iyer was an Indian academic and philosopher. Born in Madras, India on March 10 1930, Iyer was the son of Narasimhan Iyer and Lakshmi Iyer, and was educated at the University of Bombay, at Elphinstone College, where he met Nandini Nanak Mehta who would later become his wife. [http://content.cdlib.org/xtf/view?docId=hb238nb0fs&doc.view=frames&chunk.id=div00039&toc.depth=1&toc.id= University of California: In Memoriam, 1995] ] He attended Oxford University as the only Rhodes Scholar from India in 1950. President of the Oxford Union, and an "Isis Idol", he graduated with a First in philosophy, politics and economics, and went on to receive his doctorate from Oxford, while serving as a fellow of St. Antony's College.

After stints teaching at the Universities of Oslo, Ghana and Chicago, he moved to California in 1964 to become a member of the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions, a think-tank run by Robert Hutchins that assembled many of the great minds of the time. As a professor at the University of California in Santa Barbara, he received standing ovations for his improvised lectures and quickly became a figure of inspiration for students of many generations. [The Times, June 24, 1995] Together with his wife, he was the founder of the local branch of the United Lodge of Theosophists. He was also the founder and President of the Institute of World Culture. He was the father of writer Pico Iyer.

His major books include "The Glass Curtain", "Parapolitics: Toward the City of Man", and "The Moral and Political Thought of Mahatma Gandhi". He also put together two collections of Gandhi's own writings ("The Moral and Political Writings of Mahatma Gandhi" and "The Essential Writings of Mahatma Gandhi").

Iyer died of complications resulting from pneumonia on June 20, 1995.

References

* [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19950710/ai_n13993246 Obituary: Raghavan Iyer] . By Tam Dalyell. The Independent, July 10, 1995.
* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE4D91338F937A15755C0A963958260 Raghavan Narasimhan Iyer, 65, An Expert on East-West Cultures] , New York Times. By Wolfgang Saxon. June 24, 1995.

External links

* [http://www.worldculture.org/pages/2_founders.html Founders tribute] at The Institute of World Culture
* [http://theosophytrust.org/tlodocs/RNI_biography.php Biographical Sketch of Raghavan N. Iyer] , at the Theosophy Trust Memorial Library