THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Freedom fighter and the country's oldest lawyer K. Ayyappan Pillai passed away on Wednesday, January 5, 2022, at the age of 107. He breathed his last at a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram around 6.15 am due to heart-related ailment, family sources said.
Advocate K Ayyappan Pillai has been a popular figure during the pre and post-independence period as a freedom fighter, political leader and eminent lawyer in the Kerala High Court. He was a doyen of Travancore politics starting from the early thirties and for several decades later. He joined the BJP in the 1970s and had served as its state vice-president. At the time of death, he was heading the party's disciplinary committee.
Pillai participated in the Quit India Movement after a meeting with Mahatma Gandhi. He was the first elected member of the Sree Moolam Praja Sabha. He had also served as a member of the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation Council.
Early Life
Ayyappan Pillai was born in 1914 in Mundanadu, near Aryasala, in the city. His father was in the government service and retired as Deputy Peishkar. His maternal uncle was the last Thachudayakaimal (the spiritual and temporal leader of Koodalmanikkyam temple). Since the family used to follow wherever his father was transferred, young Ayyappan Pillai had primary education in various schools of Changanesserry, Meenachil and Alappuzha. He did his graduation from Govt Arts College and a law degree from Law College, Thiruvananthapuram.