Born on 15 October, 1931 in a Tamil Muslim family to a boat owner, Jainulabudeen, and Ashiamma, a housewife, in Ramanathapuram district of Tamil Nadu, Kalam’s childhood was not easy and privileged.
In order to support his poor family, young Kalam used to distribute newspapers after his school hours to add to his father’s income.Kalam was a hardworking student too, who enjoyed spending hours on his studies.
His favourite subjects were Mathematics and Physics and ultimately, he took up aerospace engineering later in life.
His interest and work in aerospace engineering brought him close to India’s civilian space program and military missile development efforts.
For his work on the development of ballistic missile and launch vehicle technology, Kalam came to be known as Missile Man of India.
At ISRO, He was one of the pioneers of India’s first space launch-vehicle program.
Kalam was recipient of Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan and Bharat Ratna.
He was also a recipient of honorary doctorates from 40 universities.
Sworn in on 25 July, 2002, Kalam became 11th President of India, succeeding KR Narayanan. For his simple and humble attitude, he was affectionately known as the ‘People’s President.’
While delivering a lecture at the Indian Institute of Management Shillong, Kalam collapsed and died from an apparent cardiac arrest on 27 July 2015, aged 83.Thousands including national-level dignitaries attended the funeral ceremony held in his hometown of Rameshwaram, where he was buried with full state honours.
