Manikonda Chalapathi Rau

Who was Manikonda Chalapathi Rau?

Manikonda Chalapathi Rau was an Indian journalist and an authority on the Nehruvian thought. Rau was editor of the English-language daily National Herald of Lucknow for over thirty years from 1946. The National Herald was founded by Jawaharlal Nehru in 1938. He wrote several books on Indian journalism, politics and personalities. During the independence struggle he was part of the underground press movement.

He was the first president of the Indian Federation of Working Journalists and continued to be so till 1955. He was the leader of the Indian Press Delegation, which accompanied Nehru on his historic 1955 tour of the USSR, Poland and Yugoslavia. He was a member of the Indian government's goodwill mission to China in 1952.

He was a member of the UNESCO Press Experts Committee and also worked on various UNESCO Commissions. He was India's representative to the United Nations General Assembly. He was also a member of the Initiating Committee of the International Press Institute.

He died on 25 March 1983.