T. S. Chockalingam

T. S. Chockalingam (3 May 1899 – 6 January 1966) was a pioneering Tamil journalist, writer, and advocate of Indian independence. During the pre-Independence period, his editorship of Dinamani accorded him the reputation as the dominant Tamil-language journalist of the 1930s and 1940s.

Early life Chockalingam was born in Tenkasi, Tirunelveli district, to Sankaralingam Pillai and Lakshmiyammal. He later co-founded the Manikkodi magazine with V. Ramaswami Iyengar and Stalin Srinivasan in 1933.

Chockalingam became the first editor of the Dinamani newspaper. In his inaugural editorial, he encouraged every Tamilian to take pride in their identity and to proudly call themselves Indian when outside Tamil Nadu. His tenure saw the involvement of prominent writers such as A. N. Sivaraman, Pudhumaipithan, C. S. Chellappa, and Ku. Alagirisami as assistant editors. He resigned from Dinamani in 1943 along with several colleagues.

In 1944, Chockalingam launched the daily newspaper Dinasari.

Congress politics In 1937, Chockalingam was elected to the Legislative Assembly of the Madras Presidency as a member of the Congress party, representing Tenkasi constituency.

Contributions to Tamil literature Chockalingam introduced Pudhumaipithan, a pivotal Tamil writer. He provided Pudhumaipithan with opportunities across various publications he was involved with, including Dinamani, Manikkodi, and Dinasari. It is said that the translation of "War and Peace" by T.S.Chokkalingam has played a major role in forming the modern prose in Tamil.

Biographies

Jawaharlal Nehru Kamaraj

Short stories

Alli Vijayam

Death Chockalingam died on 6 January 1966.