Sri Gopalkishanrao Vepachedu was born on January 17, 1937 in Khammam. He was the fourth son of Bhavanishankararao and Sitaramamma. His father was a Patwari (Karanam-village accountant) for the village Burhanpuram in Khammam district.  Vepachedu family belongs to Pradhamasakha branch of Niyogi Brahmin community of Kasyapasa gotra and to the middle class economically. 

He was educated in Khammam and took up a teaching position shortly after graduating from Intermediate (12th Standard).  However, he continued his higher education privately and finished his BA and MA in Telugu literature. 

In 1963, he married Satyavathidevi, only daughter of Vankataramayya and Lalitamma Kandukuri of Dintinapadu in Guntur.  Lalithamma was a Kannadiga Brahmin from Mysore. Venkataramayya Kandukuri was a philanthropist, teacher and an Ayurveda doctor. He established a primary school in his house in Dintinapadu and also constructed a Rama Temple for the village.  Later, Sri Gopalkishanrao donated the house for the school in Dintinapadu.

Sri Gopalkishanrao had three children - two sons and a daughter. All of his children are well educated due to his keen interest in sending all of them to the University fulltime, despite being a middleclass teacher.  Eldest son- Sreenivasarao is a PhD in Chemistry (from IICT), LLM in intellectual property (Howard University) and is a Patent Attorney in USA. Sreenivasarao is married to Marina, a Russian from St. Petersburg, a PhD in molecular biology and a senior research scientist; and they have a daughter, Krishna. The only daughter of Sri Gopalkishanrao, Umamaheswari, is a political science major and has MA, MPhil and BEd degrees. She is a senior revenue officer in the secretariat in Hyderabad. She is married to Sreenivasarao Motadaka, a scientist at BDL, and they have a daughter, Snigdha. The youngest son of Sri Gopalkishanrao, Ramarao, is a molecular biologist in USA. Ramarao finished MS and PhD at theBiochemistry Department of Osmania University.  He is married to Meera, a teacher in mathematics with an MS degree.

Sri Gopalkishanrao Vepachedu was a teacher for his entire life.  During his long stint as a teacher, he worked in Doulatabad, Gundala, Kalher, Khammam, Nagulancha and Yellandu.  For about ten years he worked at English Language Teaching Campaign Center (ELTC), where secondary school English teachers are trained in “teaching English language” to secondary school students.  He served as the principal at ELTC. Later, he served as a Mandal Education Officer for Gundala Mandal for about ten years. He went back to teaching and served as a headmaster in schools in Khammam and Yellandu. He retired in 1997. 

Sri Gopalkishanrao Vepachedu, a Telugu Pundit, took up writing biographies of Telugu litterateurs in 1998 for the Vepachedu Educational Foundation Inc., founded by his eldest son Sreenivasarao. His first article was on his favorite poet Potana and was published on the Internet in the foundation pages. Unfortunately, soon after finishing biography of Potana, he passed away unexpectedly on September 7, 1998.  However, the project continues as Mana Sanskriti journal on the web.

To fulfill the dreams and follow the ideals of Sri Gopalkishanrao Vepachedu, the Vepachedu Educational Foundation and Smt. Sathyavatidevi have taken up several projects.  One of those projects is a series of lectures entitled “Sri Gopalkishanrao Vepachedu Annual Memorial Lecture” at various institutions, such as Osmania University, IICT, and A.P. Academy of Sciences.  The first “Sri Gopalkishanrao Vepachedu Annual Memorial Lecture” was held on September 5, the Teacher’s day, in recognition of his contribution to the society as a teacher and to commemorate his death anniversary on September 7th.  An endowment is setup for this annual lecture at Biochemistry Department and is funded by Mrs. Satyavathidevi Vepachedu.  Another endowment is established for an annual award for an outstanding PhD student at IICT, which will be presented every year in Augut/September.  This award carries a silver plaque and cash. The first award was presented to a scholar on September 26th, 2003 on the occasion of the golden jubilee year of IICT celebrations.  Another Memorial lecture is scheduled to take place in January every year in Sri Gopalkishanrao’s birth month through Andhra Pradesh Academy of Sciences.  The purpose of these annual lectures and awards is to encourage education and research & development in India. 

May the souls of all ancestors of Vepachedu and Kandukuri families rest in peace! Peace be upon this world! Om Shantih Shantih Shantih!