C.G. Somiah

Codanda G Somiah was born on 11 March 1931 as the son of a forest officer who belonged to a family of Kodavas from Madikeri in Kodagu. He obtained his honorary bachelor's degree in Science (Chemistry) from Loyola College, Madras University. He then served as a faculty member of that college briefly before he cleared the Indian Administrative Service examination and joined the service in 1953. He was then made part of the Orissa state cadre.

Somiah was awarded the Queen Elizabeth Fellowship and did his sabbatical at the Oxford University in 1974–1975. Somiah declined an offer to join the Indian Foreign Service.

He retired in 1996 and settled down in Bangalore. After retirement he became an avid golfer.

He died on 13 September 2010, aged 79, after a brief illness.