Sankara Pillai Guptan Nair | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1919-08-22)22 August 1919 |
| Died | 6 February 2006(2006-02-06) (aged 86) Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala |
| Spouse | Bhagirathi Amma |
| Children | M.G. Sasibhooshan and 2 |
| Parents |
|
| Awards |
|
Sankara Pillai Guptan Nair orS. Guptan Nair (22 August 1919 – 6 February 2006) was an Indian scholar, academic, critic and writer ofMalayalam literature.
Known for his literary works as well as for his oratorical skills, Nair was a prolific writer with over 35 books to his credit. He was a distinguished fellow of theKerala Sahitya Akademi and a recipient of several honours includingKendra Sahitya Academy Award,Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award,Vayalar Award,Vallathol Award andEzhuthachan Puraskaram, the last one being the highest literary award of theGovernment of Kerala.
S. Guptan Nair was born in a affluentNair family atOachira, a temple town famous forOachira Parabrahma Temple ofKollam district of the south Indian state ofKerala on August 22, 1919 to Sankara Pillai, a knownayurvedic scholar and physician and his wife, Kali Amma.[1] His early schooling was the local school in Kayamkulam after which hegraduated with honours in Malayalam literature fromGovernment Arts College, Thiruvananthapuram in 1941.[2] In 1945, he joined the department of Malayalam of theUniversity College Thiruvananthapuram as a lecturer and before superannuating from service in 1978 as the head of the department of Malayalam of theUniversity of Calicut, he served in many educational institutions across Kerala such asBrennen College,Thalassery;Maharaja's College, Ernakulam andGovernment Victoria College, Palakkad, as aUniversity Grants Commission (UGC) professor.[3] Later, he chaired theKerala Sahithya Akademi and the Sahithya Pravarthaka Sahakarana Sangham (SPCS - Writers 'Cooperative Society). Besides, he served as the president of Kerala Sahitya Samithi, Margi, Vidhyabhyasa Sureksha Samithi and Shree Chithirathirunal Granthashala, as the assistant director ofKerala Bhasha Institute and was the editor of publications likeMalayali,Grandhalokham andVigyana Kairali. He was also involved withEducation Protection Forum, a movement against student politics in the educational institutions in Kerala.[2]
Guptan Nair was married to Bhagirathi Amma and the couple had three children, B. Lakshmi Kumari,M G Sasibhooshan, a historian and writer,[4] and B. Sudha Kumari.[1] Nair died in a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram on February 6, 2006, succumbing to respiratory illnesses, at the age of 86.[5]
Guptan Nair was considered by many as one of great critics of modern Malayalam literature.[3] He dealt with complex literary topics in a simple style, found in books such asIsangalkkappuram, a literary study which received theKerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Literary Criticism.[6]Asthiyude Pookkal, Changampuzha Kaviyum Kavithayum, a study on the life and literature ofChangampuzha Krishna Pillai is another of his notable works.[7] Books such asKrantha Darsikal,Navamalika and Gadyam Pinnitta Vazhikal are counted among his major works. Apart from several essay anthologies and biographies, he also edited a dictionary, theN B S Concise English-Malayalam Dictionary of National Book Stall.[8] His memoirs is titledMaanasasmarami.[9] He was also instrumental in publishing a number of letters written by his friend and poet,G. Sankara Kurup[10] as well as the writings of Kutti Kunju Thankachi, the 19th century writer and the daughter ofIrayimman Thampi,[11] which was edited and published by Guptan Nair under the title,Kuttikunju Thankachiyude Kruthikal in 1979.[12]
TheKerala Sahitya Akademi instituted an annual award for literary criticism in 1966.[13] the award for the second year was awarded to Guptan Nair, for his work,Isangalkkappuram.[14] Nair received theKendra Sahitya Akademi Award in 1983[15] and theLalithambika Antharjanam Award in 1995.[16] Kerala Sahitya Akademi honoured him with the distinguished fellowship in 1996[17] and two years later, he received theVayalar Award.[18] The Vallathol Award reached him in 1999[19] and the Government of Kerala awarded him their highest literary honour of theEzhuthachan Puraskaram in 2005.[3] He was also a recipient ofG. Sankara Kurup Award,C. Achutha Menon Award, R. Sankaranarayanan Thampi Award,CV Raman Pillai Award andP. N. Panicker Award.
A foundation in Nair's name, Prof. Guptan Nair Foundation, instituted an annual award,Guptan Nair Award in 2007 in his honour.[20] The award carries₹ 25,000 cash prize, a citation and a plaque andM. Leelavathi received the inaugural award. Ambalapuzha Rama Varma (2008),Sukumar Azhikode (2009), Hridayakumari (2010), G. Balakrishnan Nair (2011),O. N. V. Kurup (2012)[21]Panmana Ramachandran Nair (2013),[22]Puthussery Ramachandran (2015)[23] and K. P. Sankaran (2019)[24] are some of the recipients of the award.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)full text of the article on C. V. Raman Pillai
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
