John Thivy

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{{EngvarB|date=December 2014}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2025}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix =

| name = John Thivy

| native_name = ஜான் திவி

| image =

| order = 1st President of Malayan Indian Congress

| term_start = 4 August 1946

| term_end = 1947

| deputy =

| monarch = George VI

| predecessor = Position established

| successor = Baba Budh Singh Ji

| birth_date = 1904

| birth_place = Kuala Kangsar, Perak, Federated Malay States, British Malaya

| death_date = {{death year and age|1959|1904}}

| death_place = Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Federation of Malaya

| nationality = 24px Malaya

{{flag|India}}n

| spouse =

| party = Malayan Indian Congress

| signature =

}}

{{Infobox officeholder

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| name =

| native_name =

| native_name_lang =

| honorific-suffix =

| image =

| image_size =

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| caption =

| order =

| office = {{flag|India}}n
Commissioner
to {{flag|Mauritius}}

| term_start = {{dts|format=dmy|1950|09|02}}

| term_end = {{dts|format=dmy|1953|09|10}}

| predecessor = Dharam Yash Dev

| successor = A. M. Sahay

| office2 = {{flag|India}}n
Ambassador
to {{flag|Syria}}

| term_start2 = {{dts|format=dmy|1953|09|10}}

| term_end2 = {{dts|format=dmy|1955||}}

| predecessor2 =

| successor2 = :de:V. M. Madhavan Nair

| office3 = {{flag|India}}n
Ambassador
to {{flag|Italy}}

| term_start3 = {{dts|format=dmy|1955||}}

| term_end3 = {{dts|format=dmy|1955||}}

| predecessor3 = Binay Ranjan Sen

| successor3 = :es:Khub Chand

| office4 = {{flag|India}}n
Ambassador
to {{flag|Netherlands}}Thivy, presents in Huis ten Bosch palace Juliana of the Netherlands an eight-volume biography of Mahatma Gandhi, [https://www.europeana.eu/portal/record/2021656/afbeelding_e8f388ab_ac70_44f6_94bf_d1f834cf7c85.html]

| term_start4 = {{dts|format=dmy|1957|12|06}}

| term_end4 = {{dts|format=dmy|1959|06|04}}

| predecessor4 = Birendra Narayan Chakravarty

| successor4 = Raj Krishna Tandon

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}}

John Thivy (Tamil: ஜான் திவி; 1904–1959) was a Malayan politician and lawyer who was the founding president of the Malayan Indian Congress.

Thivy finished schooling at St. Michael's Institution in Ipoh, Perak. He studied law in London, before returning to practise in Malaya. In London, Thivy had a chance to meet Mohandas Gandhi and came to be interested in the Indian independence movement. On his return to Malaya, after getting his law degree in 1932, he became involved with the Indian nationalist movements.

Later, after the fall of Malaya to the Japanese, Thivy's interest was rekindled by a speech given by Subhas Chandra Bose at one of his rallies in 1943. Thivy joined the Indian National Army in 1943 and served on the Burma Front. He also served in a ministerial cabinet post under Bose's Provisional Government of Free India, the Azad Hind.Pettibone, Charles, The Organization and Order of Battle of Militaries in World War II, vol. VII, Germany's and Imperial Japan's Allies & Puppet States, p. 412. Trafford Publishing, 2012. ISBN 978-1-4669-0350-0

After Japan's surrender, John Thivy was held at Changi Prison for collaboration and was only released after India's independence.

On 4 August 1946, Thivy became the 1st and founding President of the Malayan Indian Congress (MIC), which represented Indian interests in Malaya. He was helped in the establishment of the party by other notable individuals such as Janaky Athi Nahappan. The MIC was modelled after the Indian National Congress. The party participated in the Malayan Independence movement.

In 1948, Thivy was appointed as an official to represent India in Southeast Asia by the Nehru Government.