He was born on the Telugu New Year's Day (ugadi) at
Vizianagaram,
Andhra Pradesh,
India. He was called the "Pope of Indian Journalism" by noted Indian statesman Sri
V. S. Srinivasa Sastri. At 18, he became the editor of the newspaper
Vizag Spectator. He eventually bought the paper and renamed it
Indian Herald. He also worked with Madras
Standard under the editorship of G Subramania Iyer
. He was Chief editor of the
Allahabad-based,
The Leader between 1909 and 1934. His clash with
Motilal Nehru, Chairman of the Board of Directors over issue of his freedom as editor, meant that Motilal left within a year, thereafter between 1927 and 1936, Chintamani was not only the Chief Editor of the newspaper, but also the leader of the opposition in the
U. P. Legislative Council. Chintamani was appointed as the Education Minister of the
United Provinces of British India as a part of the
Dyarchy scheme of the
Government of India Act 1919. He was invited as a delegate to the First
Round Table Conference at
London in 1930-1931.
Mahatma Gandhi and the British administrators and the Indian People were greatly inspired by his editorials. He was knighted in the 1939 Birthday Honours list; his knighthood was formally conferred by George VI on 20 September. ==References==