Kuriakose Elias Chavara was an Indian Catholic priest, an educator, a social reformer, and now a saint. He was canonized by Pope Francis on November 23, 2014.

Kuriakose was born on February 10, 1805 at Kainakary, Kerala, in southwestern India, to Christian parents. His family belonged to an ancient community of Christians popularly known as Saint Thomas Christians. The community is descended from Christians baptized by St. Thomas the Apostle in the 1st Century AD. He attended school in his local village and was educated in language and science.

Before he became a Carmelite priest, Kuriakose was an educator and social reformer. He initiated reforms in his local society, and started schools in the communities of Mannanam and Arpookara. He recognized that children needed to be fed in order to learn, so he instituted a midday meal to feed the children.

In 1846, he established St. Joseph's printing press in Mannanam, which was the third such press in Kerala, and the first purchased without foreign help. Using the press, he began printing the Nasrani Deepika, a religious newspaper. The press would go on to print the Deepika, starting in 1885, which is now one of the oldest continually published newspapers in India. The paper is published in the Malayalam, which is widely spoken in the region with about 37 million native speakers.