Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy
Term of office: July 25, 1977, to July 25, 1982
President Sanjeeva Reddy declined director Richard Attenborough permission to shoot some scenes for his film Gandhi in Rashtrapati Bhavan. That was the manner of leader he was -- a stickler for procedure and process, but also known to be prickly to perceived slights.
He was something of a boy wonder. In his early forties he became the first chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, and was the Speaker of the Lok Sabha when he was just 54.
After being bested by Indira Gandhi in the 1969 Presidential election, Reddy was elected unopposed to the Presidency -- the only man to do so -- in 1977. He was only 64.
After retirement he lived on his farmland in Anantpur, Andhra Pradesh. According to Reddy's biography From Farmhouse to Rashtrapati Bhavan, his house was a modest one, located in a little garden. A painting of Mahatma Gandhi hung on a wall. Gandhi was one of his greatest influences while Jawaharlal Nehru was his political mentor. He also had great admiration for Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel for his political outlook and discipline.
Nothing pleased him in his retirement more than the companionship of his wife and grandchildren during teatime, sitting on the swing chair under the neem tree, says the biography.
He died of lung cancer at the age of 83 in 1996, 14 years after he left Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Photograph: Chandru Mirchand
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