A Madhaviah

Anantanarayanan Madhaviah (16 August 1872 – 22 October 1925) is one of the pioneer Tamil writers, novelists and journalists. His writings were about social reformation and misogyny in society. He is the author of one the early Tamil Novels named Padmavathi sarithiram.

His book Muthumeenakshi is a commentary on marital politics, sexuality, female illiteracy and patriarchy in his time in south India. His take on the reformation in society can be achieved through education.

Life

Madhaviah was born on 16 August 1872 in Perungulam, a town in present-day Thoothukudi district, Tamil Nadu, India.

At the age of 15, he married a 11 year old girl named Meenakshi.

He studied Bachelors degree from Madras Christian College in 1892 and taught in the same college for five years.

Partial works Novel In Tamil

Padmavathi sarithiram (1898) Muthumeenakshi (1903) Vijayamarthandam (1903)

In English Thillai Govindan (1903) Satyananda (1909) The story of Ramanyana (1914) Clarinda (1915) Lieutenant Panju (1915) Markandeya (1922) Nanda (1923) Manimekalai (1923)

Critics His writings are criticized as being ambivalent toward British Protestant missions in the Madras Presidency. During his time the university students in South India had different family background and when they met the western philosophies it created new thoughts for them which were felt reformist in that era.