Viswanadham Thenneti was not only a prominent freedom fighter, but also a writer.  He was a lawyer and a social worker, as well.  He was born in 1895 in Lakkavaram of Visakhapatnam district into a Brahmin family. He graduated from schools in Kakinada and Visakhaptnam, and graduated in BA from Madras Presidency College. Later, he finished his LLB in 1920 from Madras and started practice in Visakhapatnam.

Viswanadham responded to Mahatma Gandhi’s call for non-cooperation movement against the British government, and gave up his law practice and went to jail.  He worked for some time as a teacher in Gujarat Vidyapeeth.  He traveled to villages and towns to propagate Congress and Gandhi philosophy.  He was elected secretary of Visakhapatnam District Committee of Congress in 1926.  Later, when the State Congress Committee was formed, he became its secretary.  He went to jail several times during the freedom struggle.  Later, he left Congress Party to join Praja Party of Prakasam Tanguturi. He was in the forefront in the struggle for a separate Andhra State from the Madras State. He served as a minister in the first Andhra State cabinet that was formed in 1954 under the Chief Ministership of Prakasam Tanguturu, shortly after the formation of the state.  Later he was nominated to be the president of Company Law Commission in Delhi in 1956. He also worked as the Chairman of the Coffee Board in Bangalore for a while. He was again elected to Andhra Pradesh State Assembly in 1962.  He actively supported separate Andhra State from Andhra Pradesh State.

Viswanadham was a poet and a writer also.  He wrote poetry in Telugu. He translated several Sanskrit texts into Telugu and wrote a commentary on Bhagavadgita. His works include Sreeraama, Bhaktakuchela, navajeevanam, kalavarintalu, hridayaguha, tatvamasi, yajnavalkya, andhrakesari jeevitacharitra, etc. He died in 1979.