Professional Documents
Culture Documents
some such exhibitions and remarked Malabar Coast during the last forty
his appreciation of the work that years. A good number of these
Professor Menachery had been doing publications have become monumental
in the 1970’s and 1980’s. or unavoidable in further research on
Academic Organizer and Activist the history of the Syrian Christian
The scholarship and academic activity communities. Of the books published
of Prof. Menachery have many by Prof. Menachery, The St. Thomas
dimensions, both individual and Christian Encyclopaedia of India, in
collective. While being a scholar with three volumes, received world-wide
his own scholastic pursuits, he was acclaim and acceptance.
also an organizer of scholars in such a
way so as to collate scholarship and
form consortia and thus producing
newer lines of inquiries and store
houses of knowledge. The final results
of such academic management are the
three volumes of the monumental and
renowned The St. Thomas Christian
Encyclopaedia of India in which more
than six hundred authors contributed
their entries/articles. These scholars
were either acknowledged authorities
in their respective fields of research or
else experts with minute
specializations at their take-off stage. It
is no mean achievement to have
commanded the confidence of more
than six hundred scholars, nearly thirty
of whom later became prelates or
bishops or archbishops of various The Hindu daily wrote that the
Christian denominations. It was widely sumptuous volumes consisted of
recognized that the academic organizer “major and minor articles on the
/ manager in Professor Menachery, in various aspects of Christian life in
the words of Professor M.G. S. Kerala interspersed with gorgeous
Narayanan (historian and onetime pictures of paintings, statues and
Chairman of the Indian Council of churches reminiscent of 1900 years of
Historical Research, New Delhi), was that life in a small and cosy corner of
‘a great gain for Kerala historical India. …All these are treated with
literature. Where Governments and scholarly serenity by competent
Universities have failed, the contributors.” The St. Thomas
determination of a few individuals Christian Encyclopaedia of India was
combined with imagination and an extraordinary publishing
scholarship has succeeded.’ achievement of Indian Christianity not
only in terms of the quality of
Publications production, which was truly
Professor Menachery has behind him a international, but also in terms of the
history of publishing, both specialized entries of the volumes which constitute
or serialized articles and books, on the first source-book for the history of
different aspects of the history and Christianity in India. As the late
culture of the Syrian Christians of the lamented Antony Cardinal Padiyara,
5
the first Major Archbishop of the Syro- Yet another series of volumes that may
Malabar Church remarked: “Our be considered a publishing
Church and State are greatly indebted, achievement of Professor George
I should say, to Prof. Menacher, under Menachery were the Indian Church
whose initiative and persevering hard History Classics. These volumes make
work a number of pioneering research- available to the readers all those rare
based publications and projects have and inaccessible volumes on the
seen the light of the day. Like Veda- history of Indian Church that are either
Vyasa he had brought together almost no longer in print or available only in
all the information that existed as the very few specialized libraries and
legend, story, fact, philosophy or are not accessible to the non-specialists
whatever about Indian Christianity into in India.
an ordered whole for the first time in
his much acclaimed Christian
Encyclopaedia of India.”
Marthoma Puraskaram
(Changanassery), Joseph
Nedumkunnam History Award
(Vaikkom), John Alenchery History
Award (Vadavathoor), First
Archdiocesan P R Jubilee Award
(Trichur), LRC Award (Ollur), KCBC
Philosopher – Scholar Award (POC),
First Syro Malabar LRC Award
(Kakkanad)….In addition he has been
honoured by various institutions,
organizations, scholarly societies,
Churches, and other important bodies
Towards the end of the celebrations, a in many places and climes during the
festschrift in honour of Professor past three decades and more.
Menachery, edited by Prof. A. M.
Francis, then Principal of the St. I dedicate this brief write-up as a token
Thomas’ College, Trichur, was of my admiration to the historical
released. scholarship and antiquarian pursuits of
Prof. George Menachery, whose
Lay Leader secular and scholarly engagements
Apart from his scholarly pursuits, Prof. with the history and prospects of a
Menachery is also an acknowledged community took him to many roads
leader of the laity in Trichur. His not trodden so far. It was from my
concerns for the role of the laity in the revered teacher, Professor M. G. S.
Syrian Catholic church led to the first Narayanan, onetime Chairman of the
ever founding in India of an Institute Indian Council for Historical Research,
for Lay Leadership, in Trichur, which that I first heard of Prof. Menachery,
was largely instrumental in organizing when I was still a postgraduate student
and training the laity, both the at the Department of History,
educated and the uneducated, in the University of Calicut. My association
cause of the Church and Christian with Professor Menachery began from
fraternity. He has been a member of this indirect studentship and I later
the Pastoral Council of the Trichur became a very junior colleague of
Archdiocese for the last three decades, Professor Menachery at St. Thomas’
and in this capacity he has always been College, Trichur, for a short stint of
listened to by the Council on matters nearly three years. I continue to be a
pertaining to the laity and the history reader and admirer of Professor
of the Syrian Catholic community. Menachery all these years. I take this
Professor Menachery’s contributions occasion to wish Prof. Menachery
as a layman to the Church got a many more decades of fruitful
befitting recognition in 2008 when he historical scholarship and antiquarian
was knighted and granted the title of pursuits.
‘Chevalier’ by His Holiness the Pope.
His historical and antiquarian pursuits
have won him the P. Thomas
Foundation Award in 2009. Some of
the other dozen or so significant
awards won by Professor Menachery
include the Darsana Award (Trichur),