Garimella
Satyanarayana was a poet and freedom fighter. He influenced
and mobilised the Andhra people against the British Raj with his patriotic
songs and writings, for which he was jailed several times by the British
administration.
He was
born in a poor family in Gonepadu village, of Srikakulam district in 1893. His
parents were Venkatanarasimham and Suramma. He was helped to study by a kind
lawyer, called Kannepalli Narasimha Rao and finished graduation. He worked as a
clerk in collector's office of Ganjam district and as a teacher at a high
school in Vijayanagaram.
He
participated in civil disobedience movement by the call of Mahatma Gandhi.
During this time, he wrote his famous song Maakoddee Telladoratanamu for
which he was jailed in 1922 for one year. The song was a popular in the
households of Andhra Pradesh during the Indian independence movement
His
notable works are Swaraajya geetamulu (1921), Harijana
paatalu (1923), Khandakaavyalu, baalageetaalu (1926), Telugu
translation of the Economic Conquest of India by Bhogaraju Pattabhi Sitaramayya, Telugu
translation of "Tirukkural" and "Naandiyar" from
Tamil, Telugu
translation
of "Tallikota" from Kannada, An English poem "Heart of the
Nation,"
He
wrote Several
articles in various daily and weekly journals like Grihalakshmi, Krishna
Patrika, Aanandavani, Dhanka, Andhra Prabha and Bhaarati.
He died in a destitute
state on 18 December 1952 after spending several years in poverty.