1998 : MADURAI SHANMUGAVADIVU SUBBALAKSHMI (1916 - 2004)

   

  

           

       M S Subbalakshmi was born on September.16.1916 at Madurai . Tamil Nadu, 
       She received her training in Carnatic music from the renowned Guru Semmangudi Srinivasa Aiyer  and gave her first public performance in 1929 at the prestigious Music Academy at Madras   

        A leading Vocalist in Carnatic music she gave numerous classical and devotional performances all over India and the World over a span of seven decades

       She died on December.11.2004 at Chennai at the age of 88.

Carnatic Music Vocalist

        Her notable international performances were at International Music Festival , Edinburg in 1963 , United Nations General Assembly in 1966 , Festivals of India at London in 1982 and Moscow in 1987

       She was the Asthana Vidwan at Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam

       She was Emeritus Music Producer – Akashvani & Doodarshan , Government of India and also held the National Research Professorship in Music Government of India.

Philanthropist

       She performed several charity concerts and donated the money from prizes , royalty from her music albums to educational , medical institutions and social welfare organizations.

Musical Albums

       Her popular devotional music albums are Sri Vishnu  Sahasaranamam ,Sri Lalitha  Sahasaranamam ,Sri Meenakshi Suprabhatham ,Sri Kamakshi   Suprabhatham , Sri Venkatesa  Suprabhatham and Bhaja Govinda.

Films

       She acted in four Tamil films  Seva Sadan (1938) Sakunthala (1940) Savithri (1941) Meera (1945)

Awards

       The Government of India honoured her with Padma Bhushan in 1954 ,Padma Vibhushan in 1975,  Bharat Ratna in 1998 and Indira Gandhi Award for National integration in 1990

      She is the first musician to receive the Bharat Ratna

      She received the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1974 from Philippines . Her other notable awards are Haridas Award , Kalidas Award , Annamalai award , Chandra Award , Sankara Award , Swaralaya  Award

Titles

       She received the titles of Isai Kalaignar , Isai Perarignar , Sangita kalanidhi , Sangita kalaimamani , Sangita Vidwanmani ,Sangita Isaivani , Sangita Kalaratna  and Sangita Kalasagara.
 

Doctorates

       The Universities at Viswabharthi , Rabindra Bharathi , Indira Kala Sangit Vishwavidyalaya - Khairagarh  , Delhi , Benares , Madras , Madurai, Sri Venkateswara of Tirupati and Sri Padmavathi of Tirupati conferred Honorary Doctorates for her life time contribution to Carnatic Music.  

United Nations

          On the afternoon of October 23, 1966, the 20^th United Nations Foundation Day celebrations M S Subbulakshmi, wearing yet another unique silk sari from the looms of Kanchi Muthu Chettiar, dazzling diamonds and the usual circlet of jasmine and roses in her hair, mounted the stage at the iconic General Assembly Hall New York to tumultuous applause. She became the first Indian musician to perform at United Nations

          The distinguished audience included the then UN Secretary General U Thant and Under Secretary General CV Narasimhan and diplomats accredited from all over the world.

She began her concert with Guru Vandana and concluded with Maitreem Bhajata . She sang in all major South Indian languages and also an English prayer song composed by C Rajagopalachari the first and only Indian Governor General.  

          United Nations Postal Administration (UNPA) issued a special event sheet to commemorate the 50^th anniversary of the music concert at UN and 100^th birth anniversary of the vocalist. The sheet comprises of 10 postage stamps in the denomination USD 1.20. The stamps are printed in 2 vertical strips of 5 each portrays the musician in green, grey, brown and violet hues along with the logo of UN. The sepia background shows the musician and her team performing at UN. The medallions of Ramon Magsaysay Award and Bharat Ratna are printed in the lower portion. 

           The sheet is designed by Michael Bialaszewski of UN and printed in limited numbers (5000 sheets).The stamp was released at a colourful function held on October 02, 2016 at UN HQ New York, coinciding with the International Day of Non Violence and India’s ratification of the Paris Declaration on Climate Change. The first stamp was presented to eminent vocalist Sudha Raghunathan.

           She then gave a soulful rendition of MSS music by singing in seven Indian languages and concluded with  Mahatma Gandhi favourite bhajan Ram Dhun.