17-APR-1946 :- Shri Valangaiman Sankaranarayana Srinivasa Shastri, greatest social reformer, freedom fighter, educationist, politician, master, scholar of Sanskrit and President of India, passed away.

Valangaiman Sankaranarayana Srinivasa Sastri (22 September 1869 – 17 April 1946) was an Indian politician, administrator, educator, orator and Indian independence activist. He was acclaimed for his oratory and command over the English language. Srinivasa Sastri was born to a poor temple priest in the village ofValangaiman near Kumbakonam, India. He completed his education at Kumbakonam and worked as a school teacher and later, headmaster in Triplicane, Madras. He entered politics in 1905 when he joined the Servants of India Society. Srinivasa Sastri served as a member of the Indian National Congress from 1908 to 1922, but later resigned in protest against the Non-Cooperation movement. Sastri was one of the founding members of the Indian Liberal Party. In his later days, Srinivasa Sastri was strongly opposed to the partition of India.

Srinivasa Sastri served as a member of the Madras Legislative Council from 1913 to 1916, Imperial Legislative Council of India from 1916 to 1919 and the Council of State from 1920 to 1925. Sastri also functioned as India's delegate to the League of Nations, as member of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom and agent to the Union of South Africa.

He gained worldwide fame for his prowess in the English language. Sastri was a close follower of Gopal Krishna Gokhale. He was also a close friend and associate of Mahatma Gandhi who addressed Sastri as his "elder brother" in writings. Sastri was made a "Companion of Honour" in 1930. In 1921, the Freedom of the City of London was conferred on Srinivasa Sastri followed by the Freedom of the City of Edinburgh in 1931.

• V. S. Srinivasa Sastri (1916). Self-government for India under the British flag. Servants of India Society.
• V. S. Srinivasa Sastri (1917). The Congress-League scheme: An Exposition. Servants of India Society.
• V. S. Srinivasa Sastri (1921). A conscience clause: for Indians in Indian education codes. Servants of India Society.
• V. S. Srinivasa Sastri (1923). The Kenya Question.
• V. S. Srinivasa Sastri (1923). Report by the Hon'ble V. S. Srinivasa Sastri regarding his deputation to the Dominions of Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
• V. S. Srinivasa Sastri (1931). The results of the Round Table Conference address at a meeting of the Committee of the Empire Parliamentary Association specially studying Indian affairs. London: Empire Parliamentary Association.
• V. S. Srinivasa Sastri; E.Lucia Turnbull, H. G. D. Turnbull (1934). Gopal Krishna Gokhale: A Brief Biography. V. Sundra Iyer.
• V. S. Srinivasa Sastri (1935). The rights and duties of the Indian citizen – The Kamala lectures. University of Calcutta.
• V. S. Srinivasa Sastri (1935). Valmiki Ramayana: condensed in the poet's own words. G. A. Natesan.
• V. S. Srinivasa Sastri (1937). Report on the conditions of Indian labour in Malaya. Government of India.
• V. S. Srinivasa Sastri (1937). Life of Gopala Krishna Gokhale. Bangalore Print and Pub. Co.
• V. S. Srinivasa Sastri (1939). Birthright. Kumbakonam Parliament.
• V. S. Srinivasa Sastri (1945). Life and times of Sir Pherozeshah Mehta. Madras Law Journal Press.
• V. S. Srinivasa Sastri (1946). My master Gokhale. Model Publications.