Ganpatrao Jadhav

Ganpatrao Govindrao Jadhav (5 May 1908 – 20 May 1987) was an Indian freedom activist, journalist and writer. He was the founder of Pudhari, a Marathi daily founded in 1937. The Government of India awarded him the fourth-highest Indian civilian honour of Padma Shri in 1984 and issued a commemorative postage stamp with his image on 12 November 2009.

Biography Jhadav was born on 5 May 1908 at Gaganbavada, a small hamlet in the Kolhapur district of the western Indian state of Maharashtra. His education at the local school did not go beyond the primary levels due to financial constraints, but Jhadav taught himself by reading books. He started his career as a journalist at Tej, a weekly published from Mumbai, then worked for other local publications.

During this period, he was involved with Satyashodhak Samaj, a social organization founded in 1873 by Jyotirao Phule, in their reformist activities, which gave him the opportunity to interact with several known Marathi personalities such as Keshavrao Jedhe, Dinkarrao Jawalkar, Achyutrao Kolhatkar, Bhaskarrao Jadhav, Bhargavaram Viththal Varerkar and M. G. Ranganekar. Soon, he launched a daily, Daily Kaiwari, with the assistance from Bhaskarrao Jadhav and became its editor.

The latter half of 1930s saw Jhadav getting involved with journalism with renewed vigour and started a weekly by name, Sevak, which was renamed Pudhari on 13 May 1937. He died on 20 May 1987 at the age of 79.