T. J. S. George

Thayil Jacob Sony George (born 7 May 1928) is an Indian writer and biographer who received a Padma Bhushan award in 2011 in the field of literature and education. The fourth of eight siblings, TJS was born in Kerala, India to Thayil Thomas Jacob, a magistrate, and Chachiamma Jacob, a homemaker. Although his roots are in Thumpamon, Kerala, he lives in Bangalore and Coimbatore with his wife Ammu. He has a daughter, Sheba Thayil and a son, Jeet Thayil. American TV journalist Raj Mathai is his nephew. T. J. S. George has achieved distinction internationally as a professional author, serious political columnist and biographer with a series of major books. After graduating from Madras Christian College in Chennai (then Madras), India, with an Honours degree in English Literature, he began his career in The Free Press Journal in Mumbai (then Bombay) in 1950. He moved through the International Press Institute, The Searchlight, and the Far Eastern Economic Review to become the founding editor of Asiaweek (Hong Kong). He was the Editorial Advisor of The New Indian Express. A veteran senior journalist and one of the best known columnists in India, he continued his fight against social injustice, corruption, religious intolerance and in later years right-wing populist tendencies that threatened democracy through his weekly 'Point of View' columns in The New Indian Express which ran for 25 years and ended in June, 2022.