Dr Zakir HUSAIN, President of India, died at the age of 72 in Delhi (5 May 1969) after a severe heart attack. The Government declared 13 days of national mourning. Husain had become President in 1967, and was a disciple of Mahatma GANDHI. He is the first Head of State to die in office in India. Born in 1897 in Hyderabad, he studied at the Aligarh Muslim University. He later founded the Jamia Millia group and in 1962 Nehru, then Prime Minister, appointed him as Vice President of India, as a symbol and earnest of India's intentions of giving the Muslim community a full share in all the nation's affairs. On the 12th May 1967 he was elected India's 3rd President.