Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was born on September 5, 1888 and died on April 17, 1975. He was a philosopher and a National Leader. He was one of the leading scholars of comparative religion and philosophy in his days, he built a bridge between Eastern and Western thought showing each to be knowable within the terms of the other. He introduced Western idealism into Indian philosophy. He was the first scholar of importance to provide a comprehensive interpretation of India`s religious and philosophical literature to English speaking peoples. He became Vice President of India in 1952 and was elected President in 1962, he held the office until 1967. In India, his birthday is celebrated as Teacher`s Day in his honour.

Child-Hood
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was born at Tiruttani, a town in Tamil Nadu, South India. His mother tongue was Telugu. His early years were spent in Tiruttani, Tiruvallur and Tirupati. His primary education was in Gowdie School,Tiruvallur,and higher school education in P.M.High School,Gajulamandyam,Renigunta. He graduated with a Master`s Degree in Arts from the University of Madras. In 1921, he was appointed to the most important philosophy chair in India, the King George V Chair of Mental and Moral Science at the University of Calcutta.

Achievements
Radhakrishnan represented the University of Calcutta at the Congress of the Universities of the British Empire in June 1926 and the International Congress of Philosophy at Harvard University in September 1926. In 1929, Radhakrishnan was invited to take the post vacated by Principal J. Estlin Carpenter in Manchester College, Oxford. This gave him the opportunity to lecture to the students of the University of Oxford on Comparative Religion. He was titled in 1931 and was known as Sir Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan until India attained independence thereafter, he was addressed as Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan.

He worked as the Vice-Chancellor of Andhra University from 1931 to 1936. In 1936, Radhakrishnan was named Spalding Professor of Eastern Religions and Ethics at the University of Oxford, and was elected a Fellow of All Souls College. After 1946, Radhakrishnan`s academic career was cut short when his country needed him to be ambassador to UNESCO and later to Moscow. He was also elected to the Constituent Assembly of India in 1946. His academic appointments included the King George V Chair of Mental and Moral Science at the University of Calcutta in 1921 and Spalding Professor of Eastern Religions and Ethics at Oxford University from 1936 to 1939.

Radhakrishnan subsequently became President of India from 1962 to 1967. When he became the President of India in 1962, some of his students and friends requested him to allow them to celebrate his birthday, September 5. He replied, "Instead of celebrating my birthday, it would be my proud privilege if 5 September is observed as Teachers` Day." Since then, Teachers` Day has been celebrated in India on this day.

Philosophical Achievements
Radhakrishnan argued that Western philosophers, despite all claims to objectivity, were partial towards theological influences from their wider culture. His main contribution to Indian thought, therefore, is that he placed Indian Philosophy "on the map", thereby earning a respect in the West that it had not had before. In his major work on the `Idealist View of Life` he made a powerful case for the importance of natural thinking as opposed to purely intellectual forms of thought. He is well known for having commented on the Prasthana Trayi of the Gita, the Upanishads and the Brahma Sutra.

He was elected as a Fellow of the British Academy in 1938. He was awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1954 and the Order of Merit in 1963. A few months before his death he received the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade and the Templeton Prize. The Oxford University in his memory initiated the Radhakrishnan Chevening Scholarships and the Radhakrishnan Memorial Award.