KOCHI: Thayil Kandathil Mammen Varghese (Thampan), chief editor of Manorama Weekly and Malayalam Manorama Printer and Publishers, has passed away. He was 91. Mammen Varghese is the grandson of former Malayala Manorama chief editor K C Mammen Mappillai and son of K M Varghese Mappillai and Kunnamkulam Pulikkottil Joseph Ramban’s sister Thandamma.
Born on March 22, 1930, Mammen Varghese did his schooling and higher education in Kottayam and Madras. He was appointed manager of Malayala Manorama in 1995. In 1965, Mammen Varghese was elevated to the position of general manager and became the managing editor in 1973. He completed courses in journalism, printing and business management from the United Kingdom, Germany and United States. He was a member of the Kerala government’s language committee. He had also served as the president of Indian and Eastern Newspaper Society (1981-82) and as chairman of the Audit Bureau of Circulations (1988-89).