Taravath Madhavan Nair (15 January 1868 – 17 July 1919) was an Indian politician and political activist of the Dravidian Movement from the Madras Presidency. He founded the Justice Party along with Theagaraya Chetty and C. Natesa Mudaliar. Early life Nair was born near Tirur on 15 January 1868. His father Chingicham Veetil Sankaran Nair was a District Munsiff in the Judicial service at Tirur. Madhavan Nair's elder brother Sankaran Nair studied law and served as Deputy Collector while his sister Taravath Ammalu Amma was a Sanskrit and Malayalam scholar who wrote a book in Malayalam on the lives of the 63 Nayanmars. Nair was educated at the Government High School, Palghat. He was known for his academic proficiency and he passed his matriculation exam one year in advance. He graduated from the Presidency College, Madras and joined Madras Medical College. However, he did not complete his course in medicine moving to continues his studies at the University of Edinburgh. He graduated from the University with an in MBChB, and obtained his MD in 1896, with Sanskrit as the compulsory classical subject. He researched in ENT diseases at Paris and returned to India in 1897. During his stay in the United Kingdom, he was a member of the Edinburgh Student's Representative Council, Secretary and later, President of the Edinburgh Indian Association, member of the Edinburgh University Liberal Association and University Union and one of the editors of Edinburgh University Liberal's magazine "The Student". Prior to his return to India, Nair spent some time in London where he served as Secretary and later Vice-President of London Indian Society which was led by Dadabhai Naoroji. He also served as a member of the British Medical Association, the Royal Asiatic Society, the National Liberal Club and the Royal Society. Public offices Nair represented Triplicane in the Madras Corporation from 1904 to 1916. During his term he frequently attacked the Corporation and its President Molony over the quality of water supplied. In 1910 he agitated for the revival of the Palghat Municipal Council. In 1908 Nair was appointed member of the Labor Commission by the Government of India. He submitted a report condemning the situation of workers in factories and recommended the reduction of hours of work. He personally submitted his condemnation and recommendations before the Secretary of State for India at London. In 1912 Nair was elected to the Madras Legislative Council. When