Background
Karunanidhi was born June 3, 1924 in Thirukuvalai, Madras Presidency, British India (nowadays Nagapattinam District, Tamil Nadu, India); the son of Thiru Muthuvelar and Thirumathi Anjugam Ammaiyar.
2006
Karunanidhi meeting the Deputy Chairman Planning Commission, Shri Montek Singh Ahluwalia to finalize plan for the current financial year, in New Delhi on June 6, 2006.
2011
Karunanidhi meeting the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, in Chennai, 2011.
Karunanidhi in Paavendhar Tamil Literature and Research library.
Karunanidhi and his son Muthuvel Stalin.
Dakshinamurthy
politician screenwriter writer
Karunanidhi was born June 3, 1924 in Thirukuvalai, Madras Presidency, British India (nowadays Nagapattinam District, Tamil Nadu, India); the son of Thiru Muthuvelar and Thirumathi Anjugam Ammaiyar.
Karunanidhi attended school in Thirukkuvalai village, but he left school early. He was awarded an honorary doctorate by Annamalai University in 1971.
Karunanidhi began his career as a screenwriter in the Tamil film industry. He went to work for Jupiter Pictures as a scriptwriter in 1944. His first film "Rajakumaari", 1947 gained him recognition and popularity. Muthuvel also worked in that position for such films as "Abhimanyu", 1948 film, "Marudhanaattu Ilavarasi", 1950, "Manthiri Kumari", 1950, "Parasakthi", 1952, "Manohara", 1954, "Poomalai", 1965, "Neethikku Thandanai", 1987 and others.
He was famous for writing historical and social stories, which propagated the socialist and rationalist ideals of the Dravidian movement to which he belonged. Muthuvel was active in screenwriting even during his later political career till 2011 when he wrote for historic movie "Ponnar Shankar".
Karunanidhi is known for his contributions to Tamil literature. He wrote poems, letters, screenplays, novels, biographies, historical novels, stage-plays dialogues and movie songs. He has written the books, including "Sanga Thamizh", "Thirukkural Urai", "Ponnar Sankar", "Romapuri Pandian" and others.
He became involved in politics in his early teens, beginning with public protests against the use of the Hindi language in the region. Karunanidhi founded organizations for the local youth and students and started a newspaper that eventually became the "Murasoli", the DMK’s (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) official newspaper. The first major protest that aided Karunanidhi in gaining ground in Tamil politics was his involvement in the Kallakudi agitation in 1953.
He became a powerful political figure using his wit and oratorical skills after joining politics in 1957, when he won a state legislature seat. Karunanidhi became the DMK treasurer in 1961 and deputy leader of opposition in the state assembly in 1962. Five years later, when the DMK won the assembly elections and the party formed the government, where Muthuvel became the Minister for Public Works. In 1969, the chief minister of that government, Annadurai, died and Karunanidhi succeeded him as the head of DMK and as chief minister of Tamil Nadu. His first tenure lasted only until January 1971, but another DMK victory in assembly elections later that year returned him to the chief minister’s office.
In 1972, a new party, the All India Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party (AIADMK) split from the DMK and became bitter rivals. Karunanidhi became the chief minister of Tamil Nadu in 1996 following an electoral win in the preceding elections. The same year a Karunanidhi-led DMK government filed several charges of corruption against Jayalalitha Jayaram, leader of the AIADMK, who then spent a short time in jail. In 2001, Karunanidhi was arrested and briefly detained on corruption charges related to highway-construction projects.
In 2006, Muthuvel became chief minister of Tamil Nadu for the fifth time, after a DMK-Congress alliance had secured a majority of seats in assembly elections. The DMK lost the majority of seats in the legislative assembly of Tamil Nadu when elections were held in 2011. Then during the 2016 elections DMK lost seats against J. Jayalalithaa's AIADMK. He was by then in poor health, but he remained the DMK’s supreme leader and continued to command immense popularity in Tamil Nadu politics.
Karunanidhi was a Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu from February 10, 1969 to January 4, 1971. Then he held the same position from March 15, 1971 to January 31, 1976 and January 27, 1989 - January 30, 1991. Also Muthuvel was a Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu from May 13, 1996 to May 13, 2001 and May 13, 2006 - May 15, 2011.
He has been elected to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly 13 times between 1957-2016 elections.
Quotes from others about the person
"Karunanidhi was a deep-rooted mass leader, prolific thinker, accomplished writer and a stalwart whose life was devoted to the welfare of the poor and the marginalized."
Karunanidhi married three times. His first wife was Padmavathi Ammal. They have a son, Muthuvel Muthu. Then he married Dayalu Ammal. They have three sons, Muthuvel Stalin, Muthuvel Alagiri, Muthuvel Tamilarasu and a daughter, Muthuvel Selvi. His third wife was Rajathi Ammal. They have a daughter, Muthuvel Kanimozhi. He has two grandsons, a nephew and two grandnephews.