7.25X11 Original vintage B&W satin finish portrait photograph signed "V.K. Krishna 13/4/60" in blue ink. In excellent condition!(1896-1974) Vengalil Krishnan Krishna Menon was an Indian academic, politician, and statesman described as the second most powerful man in India after the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, with whom he shared an intimate friendship. Noted for his eloquence, brilliance, and forceful and highly abrasive personality, Menon inspired widespread adulation as well as angry detraction in both India and the West. To his supporters, he was an unapologetic champion of India in the face of Western imperialism, who famously "taught the white man his place". To his Western detractors, he was "Nehru's evil genius". US president Dwight Eisenhower characterized him as a "menace ... governed by an ambition to prove himself the master international manipulator and politician of the age", but Indian President K.R. Narayanan eulogized him as a truly great man.Before, during, and after India's independence, until his political collapse in 1962, Menon stood at the forefront of India's foreign relations, acknowledged domestically and internationally as India's de facto foreign minister and foreign policy architect, and acted as Nehru's personal plenipotentiary, capable of speaking with Nehru's voice and authority. Pre-1947, Menon led and represented the India League and broader Indian independence movement in London, advocating Indian independence before both the British parliament and the public; towards the end of the 1940s, he became a dominant figure in Indo-British matters, even selecting the last British Viceroy of India, Earl Mountbatten of Burma, with whom he had long been friends. In the words of The Tribune, "Few Indians have dominated global politics or aroused as much awe and antagonism as V. K. Krishna Menon, one of the most extraordinary personalities of the 20th century — astute, arrogant, acerbic, brilliant, erudite, egoistic, opinionated and impatient. Menon ensured that the aphorism “love him or hate him, but you cannot ignore him” seldom fitted anyone better. He strode the international political arena like a colossus, creating friends and enemies in equal numbers... he remains, without doubt, one of the foremost statesmen produced by India..."Post-independence, he was a central figure in early Cold War international diplomacy, facilitating resolutions in situations as diverse as the Suez Crisis, Korean War, invasion of Hungary, Cyprus, Indochina, Taiwan, and the Chinese capture of American airmen, all while publicly advocating the anti-colonial ethos of what he would eventually name the Non-Aligned Movement, earning him such sobriquets in the West as "India's Rasputin" and "Mephistopheles in a Savile Row Suit", by those who feared the magnitude of his influence over Nehru and the Indian government, and his commitment to neutralism between the United States and Soviet Union. During his heyday, he variously served as High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Ambassador to the United Nations, Minister without Portfolio, and Defense Minister.Domestically, he wrote the first draft of the Preamble to the Constitution of India, conceptualized and created the Constituent Assembly of India, and worked closely with Nehru, Mountbatten, Sardar Patel, and V.P. Menon to work out the mechanics of Indian independence. Later, as Defence Minister, Menon aggressively created and accelerated India's domestic military-industrial complex and educational systems, establishing the Sainik Schools, the Defence Research and Development Organization, or DRDO, space agency INCOSPAR, later ISRO, and numerous other educational and research institutions, while accelerating and professionalizing the National Cadet Corps and similar entities. While widely blamed for India's unpreparedness in the 1962 Sino-Indian War, future Defence Minister and later President R. Venkataraman defended him as the "best defense minister India ever had", on the grounds of his unique focus on developing a homegrown military-industrial complex and full-stack educational system.From Indian independence until late 1962, he was internationally and domestically viewed as India's de facto Foreign Minister and foreign policy director, as well as a roving plenipotentiary speaking with Nehru's voice and authority, a frequent source of consternation to Indian diplomats as established as Nehru's own sister, Vijayalakshmi Pandit, who found herself instantly sidelined whenever Menon engaged at the United Nations.As a young man, Menon served as founding editor of the Pelican imprint of Penguin Books. He led the overseas wing of the Indian independence movement, launching the India League in London, aggressively campaigning within the United Kingdom to win public support for Indian independence, and rallying the support of world powers such as the Soviet Union. In the immediate wake of independence, Menon emerged as an engineer of and spokesman for India's foreign policy, and, more generally, architect of the non-aligned movement. He headed India's diplomatic missions to the United Kingdom and the United Nations and distinguished himself in diplomatic matters including the Suez crisis. In 1957, Menon had set the record for the longest speech (8 hours) before the U.N. Security Council while defending India's rights to the disputed territory of Kashmir, in the process earning widespread popularity and the sobriquet "Hero of Kashmir".Returning to India, he was repeatedly elected to both houses of the Indian parliament from constituencies as varied as Mumbai, Bengal, and Trivandrum in his native state of Kerala. He served as a minister without portfolio and later as Minister of Defence, overseeing the modernization of the Indian military and development of the Indian military-industrial infrastructure, and spearheading the Indian annexation of Goa. He resigned in the wake of the Sino-Indian War, following allegations of India's military unpreparedness, but remained a counselor to Nehru, a member of parliament and elder statesman until his death.This lot came from the Jim Wiggins collection we purchased in July 2022. Jim Wiggins accumulated the most unique and valuable autograph collection over a period of 70-plus years. He obtained his collection either in person or by writing to persons of fame and notoriety. Comes with a full Letter of Authenticity from Todd Mueller Authentics.