Background: K C Mammen Mappillai was born on 4th of May 1873 as the eldest son of Kandathil Cherian Mappillai and Mariamma. He had 2 older sisters 5 younger brothers and 2 younger sisters.
Education: He passed Matriculation from Thiruvalla High School, Intermediate (F
A) from C M S College, Kottayam and B A from Madras Christian College.
After passing B A., he wanted to enter the Mysore Civil Service like some of
his college-mates. But his uncle Varghese Mappillai, founder of Malayala
Manorama persuaded him to come back to Kerala and become a schoolteacher. He
joined M D Seminary High School and became its Headmaster. Varghese Mappillai
persuaded his nephew to help him in the working of Malayala Manorama.
Varghese
Mappillai (his uncle) passed away in July 1904, and the mantle of publishing the
newspaper fell on the shoulders of Mammen Mappillai who was just 31 years old.
He resigned his Headmastership in 1908 and took over the publishing of Manorama
as full time job. He became its longest Editor. During his time Manorama became
a bi-weekly in 1918 and Daily in 1928.
Along
with publishing he went into a number of business projects some of which never
saw the light of Day. Shipping, Road Transport, Retail Shop, Book Publications
etc. were some of them. However, he gave Kerala's economy a new bounce. He used
Malayala Manorama to popularise cultivation, particularly rubber, the ‘money
tree’ from Brazil. Rubber eventually became backbone of Kerala midlands and
continues to be so.
One of the other institutions he had started was Travancore National bank. It
was later amalgamated with Quilon Bank started by C P Mathen in 1936. The new
name was Travancore National & Quilon Bank.
He took active part in the struggle of the Malankara Church against the
Antiochian hegemony.
He was a member of the Modern Legislative Assembly of the Erstwhile State of
Travancore. He played a key role in the struggle for Civil Rights and
responsible Government.
The various activities of K C Mammen Mappillai were not appreciated by the then
Dewan of Travancore Sir C P Ramaswamy Iyer, particularly his political
activities, which had the support of his newspaper.
The
Dewan of Travancore went all out to break the political activities of K C
Mammen Mappillai. He made the Travancore Government seal the newspaper office.
Owing to the adverse propaganda by Government the bank closed in 1938.
K C Mammen Mappillai was arrested and put in jail for 2 years.
In 1947 after India became independent, he came back to Kerala and restarted
Malayala Manorama on 29th November 1947. He ran it with his eldest son K M
Cherian till his death at midnight on December 3, 1953.
His anchor all through the crests and troughs was Mammy, his wife whom he
married when he was just fifteen. She inspired him, comforted him and bore him
nine children, all of whom made a mark in their chosen fields.
As a mark of respect to his departed soul, the Chief Minister of the then
Travancore- Cochin, Sri A J John and his cabinet ministers led the funeral
procession, which was a signal honour considering what the previous Dewan-led
Government did to Malayala Manorama and K C Mammen Mappillai.
The K. C. Mammen Mappillai Award presented to the best
student of the Manorama School of Communication was named after him.
His legacy lives on-in Malayala Manorama's undying love for freedom and in his indelible imprint on Kerala's destiny.
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