Venkatasubbarao Toleti was born in 1875 in a Pradhamasakha Niyogi Brahmin family to Narasimham and Rajyamma.   His ancestral place was Mandapalli village in Amalapuram.  His parents migrated to Tallarevu near Kakinada and then to Rajamahendravaramu due to his father's job.  Subbarao was only ten months old when the family arrived in Rajamhendravaramu.  Soon after, he became blind suddenly due to unknown reasons.  After various treatments, he got his sight as dramatically.  

He studied up to upper fourth grade at Innispeta School.  His classmates included Lakshminarasimham Chilakamarthi. He started writing critical articles in various journals even when he was in the high school.  His literary criticism involved reproach and opprobrium. He wrote Nachiketopakhyanamu during his upper fourth grade. This book was praised by famous litterateurs of the era in various journals and was prescribed as a textbook for all schools in Rajamahendravaramu. Later, he worked for various schools in Rajamahendravaram as a teacher.  He was laid off after working for Christian ULC Missionary School for 22 years. 

He wrote a very reproachful criticism on harischandra drama written by Veeresalingam Kandukuri and sent for publication in vivekavardhini, a journal run by Veeresalingam Kandukuri.  Impressed Veeresalingam not only published it, but also invited him to present him with his (Veeresalinagam's) books.  After studying all Veeresalingam's books, Subbarao wrote a biography of Veeresalingam called kandukuri veeresalinga kavi charithra.  His works include nachiketopakhyanam, kandukuri veeresalinga charitra, harischandra, jnanabhaskaram, srimadakhamdagautami, kotagiri, kakinada kangresu, puvvulagampa, andhrasakumtala vimarsanamu, chitranaliya nataka pradarsanamu, sriramalilahanumadvilasamu, etc.