Gilbert Slater

Gilbert Slater (27 August 1864 – 8 March 1938) was an English economist and social reformer. He is known for rural developments he initiated in India.

Slater is also known for his love for Dravidian culture and civilization and for theorizing that the works of Shakespeare were actually written by several different writers at different times.

Early life

Slater was born at Plymouth, England on 27 August 1864 to a schoolmaster, Daniel Slater.

Academic career

Slater graduated in economics and taught the subject as an academic. He wrote one of the first PhDs at the London School of Economics. Enclosure of Common Fields in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries was published in 1905. (LSE Magazine Winter 2010)

Principal of Ruskin College

Slater served as the Principal of Ruskin College, Oxford from 1909 to 1915.

In India

In 1915, Slater sailed to India to take over as the first Professor of economics and head of the new economics department of the University of Madras which was founded in 1912. and chaired the economics department of Madras University from 1915 to 1921. Even before he arrived in India, Slater had learnt the Tamil language and was ready for his new assignment. During his tenure, Gilbert and his team performed a detailed survey of the villages in the Madras Presidency and analyzed the prevailing economic conditions. One of the people who assisted Slater in his study was South Indian businessman M. Ct. Muthiah Chettiar. The results of the survey were published in the book Some South Indian Villages. During his term in the council, he recommended the appointment of a committee to investigate the feasibility of the adoption of a common script for the whole Presidency.

Death

Slater died on 8 March 1938 at the age of 73.

On 22 January 2009 a portrait of Gilbert Slater was unveiled at the campus of the University of Madras by the Finance Minister of Tamil Nadu, K. Anbazhagan.