Prof. N. Klein addressing the audience at the Ninth Institute Day celebrations at the Open Air Theatre, 1968

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Administrators , Cultural Events , Faculty

Prof. Nikolaus Klein (Gymkhana President) was born on 22 October 1929, at Frankfurt-on-Main. He studied Greek in 1951 after passing his School Final. The same year, he joined the University of Frankfurt-on Main to study Comparative Linguistics, Philosophy and History of Fine Art. Soon, he diverted his attention to the field of Indology. In 1953 he joined the University of Munich, and the following year, he went to Tuebingen to continue his studies in Indian Philosophy (Advaita) and Comparative Religions. In November 1956, the degree of Dr. Phil. was conferred on him. In 1957 he left for India on an Indian Government scholarship to further pursue his studies. He taught German at Calcutta University and Bengal Engineering College, Sibpur until he joined IIT Madras in 1961.

On the dais from left: Mr. C. V. Sethunathan (Registrar), Prof. S. Sampath (Deputy Director), Prof. A. Ramachandran (Director), chief guest Dr. Karl Pfauter (Consul General of the Federal Republic of Germany) and the Student Secretary (yet to be identified).

An identical photograph can be found in the Gourishankar Collection in Album 0265 under the ID: 001/0265/IMG_0089

Collection:

Central Photographic Section Collection

Album Name:

Ninth Institute Day, 1968

Photograph ID:

001/0020/IMG_0644_1

Album ID:

0020

Date:

23 March 1968

Place:

Open Air Theatre (OAT)

Photographer:

C. Gourishankar (1936-2002). A geologist by qualification, Gourishankar started his career as a photographer after working for many years with the Geological Survey of India. In everything that he did, Gourishankar strove to achieve flawlessness and impeccable quality. Thus his photography too was characterised by this drive for perfection. Every photograph that Gourishankar took was meticulously planned and shot and printed with diligence and patience. Gourishankar carried out most of the official photography at IIT Madras in the 1960s.

Event:

Ninth Institute Day