Kocheril Raman Narayanan (27 October 1920 – 9 November 2005) was an Indian diplomat, academician, and statesman who served as the president of India from 1997 to 2002 and vice president of India from 1992 to 1997.
Narayanan was born in Perumthanam, Uzhavoor village, in the princely state of Travancore (present day Kottayam district, Kerala) into a Hindu family. After a brief stint with journalism and then studies at the London School of Economics with the assistance of a scholarship, Narayanan began his career in India as a member of the Indian Foreign Service in the Nehru administration. He served as ambassador to a number of countries, most principally to the United States and China, and was referred by Nehru as "the best diplomat of the country". He entered politics at Indira Gandhi's request and won three successive general elections to the Lok Sabha and served as a Minister of State in prime minister Rajiv Gandhi's cabinet. Elected as vice president in 1992, Narayanan went on to become president in 1997 and became the first Dalit to occupy either position.
Narayanan is regarded as an independent and assertive president who set several precedents and enlarged the scope of the presidency. He described himself as a "working president" who worked "within the four corners of the Constitution"; something midway between an "executive president" who has direct power and a "rubber-stamp president" who endorses government decisions without question or deliberation. He used his discretionary powers as a president and deviated from convention and precedent in many situations, including the appointment of the prime minister in a hung Parliament, in dismissing a state government and imposing President's rule there at the suggestion of the Union Cabinet, and during the Kargil conflict. He presided over the golden jubilee celebrations of Indian independence and in the country's general election of 1998, he became the first Indian president to vote when in office, setting another new precedent. As of 2025, he remains the last Indian to have been elected president, while serving as vice president.
K. R. Narayanan was born at Perumthanam, Uzhavoor, as the fourth of seven children of Paappiyamma (of the Punnaththuraveettil house) and Kocheril Raman Vaidyar of the Kocheril house and a practitioner of the traditional Indian medical system of Ayurveda. His siblings were Vasudevan, Neelakandan, Gowri, Bhaskaran, Bhargavi and Bharathi. His family, belonging to the Paravar caste (whose members are involved in fishery, boatbuilding, sea trade), was poor, but his father was respected for his medical acumen.
Narayanan had his early schooling in Uzhavoor at the Government Lower Primary School, Kurichithanam (where he enrolled on 5 May 1927) and Our Lady of Lourdes Upper Primary School, Uzhavoor (1931–35). He walked to school for about 15 kilometres daily through paddy fields, and was often unable to pay the modest fees. He often listened to school lessons while standing outside the classroom, having been barred from attending because tuition fees were outstanding. The family lacked money to buy books and his elder brother K. R. Neelakantan, who was confined to home as he was suffering from asthma, used to borrow books from other students, copy them down, and give them to Narayanan. He matriculated from St. Mary's High School, Kuravilangad (1936–37) (he had studied at St. John's High School, Koothattukulam (1935–36) previously). He completed his intermediate at C. M. S. College, Kottayam (1938–40), aided by a scholarship from the Travancore Royal family.
Narayanan obtained his B. A. (Honors) and M.A. in English literature from the University of Travancore (1940–43) (present day University of Kerala), standing first in the university (thus becoming the first Dalit to obtain this degree with first class in Travancore). With his family facing grave difficulties, he left for Delhi and worked for some time as a journalist with The Hindu and The Times of India (1944–45). During this time, he once interviewed Mahatma Gandhi in Bombay on his own volition (10 April 1945).
In 1944, Narayanan was awarded a Tata Scholarship of Rs. 16,000 by J. R. D. Tata to read politics, economics and journalism at the London School of Economics and was awarded Bachelor of Science honors in Economics with specialisation in political science from the University of London. At the LSE (1945), he studied political science under Harold Laski; he also attended lectures by Karl Popper, Lionel Robbins, and Friedrich Hayek. During his years in London, he (along with fellow student K. N. Raj) was active in the India League under V. K. Krishna Menon. He was also the London correspondent of the Social Welfare Weekly published by K. M. Munshi. At the LSE he shared lodgings with K. N. Raj and Veerasamy Ringadoo (who later became the first president of Mauritius); another close friend was Pierre Trudeau (who later became Prime minister of Canada).
When Narayanan returned to India in 1948, Laski gave him a letter of introduction to Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Years later, he narrated how he began his career in the public service:
When I finished with LSE, Laski, of his own, gave me a letter of introduction for Panditji. On reaching Delhi I sought an appointment with the PM. I suppose, because I was an Indian student returning home from London, I was given a timeslot. It was here in Parliament House that he met me. We talked for a few minutes about London and things like that and I could soon see that it was time for me to leave. So, I said goodbye and as I left the room, I handed over the letter from Laski and stepped out into the great circular corridor outside. When I was halfway round, I heard the sound of someone clapping from the direction I had just come. I turned to see Panditji [Nehru] beckoning me to come back. He had opened the letter as I left his room and read it. [Nehru asked:] "Why didn't you give this to me earlier?" [and KRN replied:] "Well, sir, I am sorry. I thought it would be enough if I just handed it over while leaving." After a few more questions, he asked me to see him again and very soon I found myself entering the Indian Foreign Service.
In 1949, he joined the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) on Nehru's request, and was appointed an attaché in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on 18 April of that year. He worked as a diplomat in the embassies at Rangoon, Tokyo, London, Canberra, and Hanoi. Narayanan's diplomatic career proceeded as follows:
Second Secretary, Indian Liaison Mission in Tokyo (appointed 19 August 1951)
Appointment in the IFS confirmed (29 July 1953)
First Secretary, High Commission of India to the United Kingdom (relinquished 17 December 1957)
Deputy Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs (relinquished 11 July 1960)
First Secretary, High Commission of India to Australia, including period as Acting High Commissioner of India, Canberra (relinquished 27 September 1961)
Consul-General of India (Hanoi), North Vietnam
Ambassador to Thailand (1967–69)
Ambassador to Turkey (5 March 1973–1975)