Gopalkrishna Gandhi (Bengali: গোপালকৃষ্ণ গান্ধী Gopalkrishno Gandhi; born April 22, 1945) was the governor of West Bengal serving from 2004 to 2009. He is the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, and son of Devadas Gandhi and Lakshmi Gandhi. His maternal grandfather was C. Rajagopalachari (Rajaji). Gopalkrishna Gandhi is the younger brother of Rajmohan Gandhi, and the late Ramchandra Gandhi, and Smt.Tara Bhattacharya (Gandhi) all of whom are distinguished in their own right.

As a former member of the Indian Administrative Service, he served as Secretary to the President of India and as High Commissioner to South Africa, among other administrative and diplomatic posts.

Gandhi graduated with a master's degree in Literature from St. Stephen's College of Delhi University. He has authored one novel (Saranam - "Refuge" in English) and a play in verse (Dara Shukoh).His other books are- "Gandhi and South Africa", "Koi Adhha Sa Ladka" (translation into Hindustani of Vikram Seth's novel 'A Suitable Boy', "Gandhi and Sri Lanka", "Nehru and Sri Lanka", "India House, Colombo- Portrait of a Resience", "Gandhi Is Gone. Who Will Guide Us Now? (edited), "A Frank Friendship/ Gandhi and Bengal: A Descriptive Chronology" (compiled and edited)

President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam made the appointment on 14 December, 2004 following the expiry of the term of office of incumbent Viren J. Shah. He was succeeded by Devanand Konwar (the serving governor of Bihar) who has been given additional charge of West Bengal.

Gopalkrishna Gandhi and his wife Tara have two married daughters.

[edit] Career

• 1968 - 1985 Joined as an IAS Officer and served in Tamil Nadu
• 1985 - 1987 Secretary to Vice-President of India
• 1987 - 1992 Joint Secretary to President of India
• 1992 Retired from IAS
• 1992 Minister (Culture) in High Commission of India, UK and Director, The Nehru Centre, London, UK.
• 1996 High Commissioner of India, South Africa and Lesotho
• 1997-2000 Secretary to President of India
• 2000 High Commissioner of India in Sri Lanka
• 2002 Ambassador of India to Norway, and Iceland
• 2004 Governor of West Bengal.
• 2006 Governor of Bihar (Additional Charge)

Government offices
Preceded by Viren J. Shah	Governor of West Bengal 2004–2009	Succeeded by Devanand Konwar

v • d • e Governors of Indian states     Andhra Pradesh: E.S.L. Narasimhan Arunachal Pradesh: Joginder Jaswant Singh Assam: Janaki Ballabh Patnaik Bihar: Devanand Konwar Chhattisgarh: E.S.L. Narasimhan Goa: Shivinder Singh Sidhu Gujarat: Kamla Beniwal Haryana: Jagannath Pahadia Himachal Pradesh: Prabha Rau Jammu and Kashmir: Narinder Nath Vohra Jharkhand: K. Sankaranarayanan Karnataka: Hansraj Bhardwaj Kerala: Ramkrishnan Suryabhan Gavai Madhya Pradesh: Rameshwar Thakur Maharashtra: S.C. Jamir Manipur: Gurbachan Jagat Meghalaya: Ranjit Shekhar Mooshahary Mizoram: Madan Mohan Lakhera Nagaland: Shri Nikhil Kumar Orissa: Murlidhar Chandrakant Bhandare Punjab: Sunith Francis Rodrigues Rajasthan: Prabha Rau (acting) Sikkim: Balmiki Prasad Singh Tamil Nadu: Surjit Singh Barnala Tripura: Dnyandeo Yashwantrao Patil Uttar Pradesh: Banwari Lal Joshi Uttarakhand: Margaret Alva West Bengal: Devanand Konwar ANI: Bhopinder Singh Chandigarh: Sunith Francis Rodrigues Dadra and Nagar Haveli: Satya Gopal Delhi: Tejendra Khanna Daman and Diu: Satya Gopal Lakshadweep: J. K. Dadoo Puducherry: Iqbal Singh

[edit] References

• Profile of the West Bengal government website.