Shankar Dayal Sharma

Shankar Dayal Sharma ( born August 19, 1918 in Bhopal, † 26 December 1999, Delhi ) was an Indian scholar and politician and from 1992 to 1997 President of India.

Sharma studied English Literature, Hindi and Sanskrit and received a Ph.D. in Law at Cambridge. He taught law at the Lucknow University and at the University of Cambridge. During the 40s of the 20th century, he joined the Indian National Congress. In 1952, he was Chief Minister of Bhopal. President of the Indian National Congress, he in 1972 until 1974. From 1984 to 1987 he was governor of the states of Andhra Pradesh (1984-1985 ), Punjab ( 1985-1986) and Maharashtra ( 1986-1987). From 1987 to 1992 he was Vice- President of India, then to 1997, President of India.

The University of Cambridge awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1993.