| Malayala Manoram chief editor KM Mthew pases away |
| | Sat, 31 Jul 2010 |
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KM Mathew, chief editor of Malayala Manorama daily and doyan of Indian media industry, passed away at his residence here this morning, family sources said. Mathew (93) was a former chairman of Press Trust of India.
He is survived by three sons, Mammen Mathew, Philip Mathew andJacob Mathew and a daughter. His wife had predeceased
him.
Funeral will take place at Puthenpally church cemetery here tomorrow.
Mathew had played a key role in making Malayala Manorama as
one of the majorIndian language daily after he took over
the reins of the media house a few decades back.
Chief minister VS Achuthanandan, leaders of all political parties and people from different walks of life expressed profound grief at the passing away of Mathew.
Born on January two, 1917, Mathew joined the organisation as Managing Editor in 1954 and became chief editor in 1973.
Mathew launched many publications such as the women's magazine Vanitha in Malayalam and English, the English
magazine The Week, the farmer's magazine Karshakasree,
children's magazines Balarama Amar Chitra Katha and
Kalikudukka in Malayalam and Magic Pot in English and encyclopedic Manorama Year Book in Malayalam, English, Hindi
Tamil and Bengali.
In 1988 he received the Padma Bhushan. He has received many other awards including Foundation of Freedom of Information Award (1991), National Citizen's award (1992), Ramakrishna Jay Dayal award (1995), Durga Prasad Chaudhary award (1996), B D Goenka Award (1996) and Kerala Press Academy president of Indian Newspaper society.
Mathew has served as chairman of Press Trust of India, president of Indian Newspaper Society, chairman of Audit Bureau of Circulations, vice-president of Indian Language Newspaper Association, founder trustee and chairman of Press Institute of India as well as the Research Institute for Newspaper Development. He was a member of the Press Council of India, wage boards for working journalists and non-journalists and Central Press Advisory Committee. He was also on the executive committee of the Federation of International Newspaper Publishers and Editors, France.
His wife Annamma (1922-2003) was a culinary expert and chief editor of Vanitha, who wrote under the name Mrs KM Mathew. His book of memoirs, Annamma, was published by Penguin in Malayalam (2004) and in English (2005). His autobiography titled "Ettamathe Mothiram" was published in 2008.
Mathew also revived the elite literary magazine Bhashaposhini. Manorama Weekly became the largest selling weekly in the country.
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