Gurajada Apparao

Gurazada Venkata Apparao (September 21, 1862 - November 30, 1915) was a noted Indian playwright, dramatist, poet, and writer known for his works in Telugu theatre.Rao wrote the play Kanyasulkam in 1892, which is often considered the greatest play in the Telugu language.One of the pioneers of Indian theatre, Rao holds the titles Kavishekara and Abyudaya Kavitha Pithamahudu. In 1910, Rao has scripted the widely known Telugu patriotic song "Desamunu Preminchumanna".

In 1897, kanyasulkam was published (by Vavilla Ramaswamy Sastrulu and Sons, Madras) and was dedicated to Maharaja Ananda Gajapati. Gurajada Appa Rao (along with brother Syamala Rao) had written several English poems. His Sarangadhara, published in "Indian Leisure Hour" was well received. The editor of the Calcutta-based "Rees and Ryot" Sambhu Chandra Mukherji read it and re-published it in his magazine. Gundukurti Venkata Ramanayya, editor of the "Indian Leisure Hour" encouraged Gurazada greatly during the same period. In 1891, Gurajada was appointed to the post of Epigraphist to the Maharaja of Vizianagaram.

He was married to Appala Narasamma in 1885. In the mean time, he continued his studies and graduated with B.A. (Philosophy major and Sanskrit minor) in 1886. For some period during 1886, he worked as Head Clerk in the Deputy Collector's office. On Vijayadasami day, 1887, he joined as a Lecturer (Level IV) in M.R. College with a salary of Rs.100. Around the same time, he was introduced to Maharajah Pusapati Ananda Gajapati Raju (1850 - 1897).[9][10]

In 1905, Gurajada's mother died. In 1906, his close friend P.T. Srinivasa Iyyangar, principal of Mrs. A.V.N. College, Visakhapatnam started an association to promote curriculum reform in high schools. One of the chief aims was to introduce spoken dialects. Along with him, J.A. Yates (1874 - 1951) -a British civil servant, Gidugu and Gurajada were the principal members. Another friend S. Srinivasa Iyengar (1874 - 1941) also gave a lot of support and encouragement. Incidentally, this Srinivasa Iyengar was a well-known lawyer and was the President of AICC (All India Congress Committee) annual session at Guwahati in 1926. Gurajada's childhood friend and classmate in Chipurupalli, Gidugu Rammurty (1863 - 1940) was his school of thought.