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Krishnaswamy Sharma

(★ – 1925) – (Tamilnadu)

Krishnaswamy Sharma began his political career after being arrested and imprisoned for five years in Coimbatore central Jail for speaking at a public meeting in Karur in 1908, which was considered a crime against the state. He began his writing career in 1916 with the 5000 Swadharma pamphlet campaign and went on to write several books to inspire patriotism among the people. These included “Napoleon”, “Mazzini”, “India Lost Crap”, “Asoka Chakravarti”, “Kumbamaharasa”, “Rajarikasastriam”, and “Thilaksaritra”.

Sharma faced his first legal action in 1917 when the Indian Defence Act was imposed, which prohibited him from speaking or writing against the state. He was imprisoned for the second time in 1921 due to his involvement in the Indian Non-Cooperation Movement. While in Vellore jail in 1922, he declared that he was willing to be jailed for life for his country. His book “India Lost Crap”, published in 1923, was the first Tamil book to address British economic exploitation. He passed away by 1925.