Photographer: James BurkeVengalil Krishnan Krishna Menon(Malayalam: വി. കെ. കൃഷ്ണമേനോന്, Hindi: वि. के. कृष्ण मेनोन्) commonly referred to as Krishna Menon (3 May 1896 - 6 October 1974) was an Indian nationalist, politician diplomat and Defence Minister of India (1957-1962).
After India gained independence in 1947, Menon was appointed high commissioner to the United Kingdom, a post in which he remained until 1952. During his tenure as the High commissioner to Britain, he was accused of being involved in a corruption scam involving the purchase of used military jeeps from Britain to supply to the Indian army during the war with Pakistan in 1948, but nothing was proved. Subsequently, he led the Indian delegation to the United Nations (1952 - 1962), where he adopted a policy of non-alignment, loudly criticising the United States. On 23 January 1957 he delivered an unprecedented 8-hour speech defending India’s stand on Kashmir. To date, Krishna Menon’s speech is the longest ever delivered in the United Nations Security Council
Krishna Menon became a member of the Rajya Sabha in 1953. On February 3, 1956, he joined the Union Cabinet as Minister without Portfolio. In 1957 he was elected to the Lok Sabha from Bombay, and in April of that year he was named minister of defence under Prime Minister Nehru. He was behind the conception of Sainik Schools in India, under the aegis of Sainik School Society, which runs over 24 schools across India. However, after India's defeat in the Sino-Indian War of 1962, he resigned from office for the country's lack of military preparedness. In 1967 he lost his parliamentary seat but was re-elected in 1969 from Midnapore. Again he was elected to the Parliament from Trivandrum. He died on October 6, 1974 in New Delhi. (Wikipedia)