C. D. Narasimhaiah

Closepet Dasappa Narasimhaiah (1921–2005) was an Indian writer, literary critic and the principal of Maharaja's College, Mysore. Narasimhaiah was best known for his literary criticisms and for bringing out an abridged version of Discovery of India of Jawaharlal Nehru, under the title, Rediscovery of India. He was a recipient of the Rajyotsava Prashasti honor of the Government of Karnataka. The Government of India awarded him the third highest civilian honour, the Padma Bhushan, in 1990, for his contributions to literature.

Biography Born in Closepet (present-day Ramanagara) of Ramanagara district in the south Indian state of Karnataka on 21 May 1921 to a shopkeeper, Narasimhaiah graduated from the University of Mysore and did his higher studies at the Universities of Cambridge and Princeton before joining Maharaja's College, Mysore as a professor of English literature in 1950. He also served as the resident scholar of International Research Centre, Bellagio (1968) and as a consultant to East-West Centre, Hawaii for two terms (1974–75 and 1987). published several books on literature, culture and arts, the abridged version of Discovery of India of Jawaharlal Nehru, published in 1981 by the Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund is the most notable among them. Jawaharlal Nehru: A Study of His Writings and Speeches, The writer's Gandhi, The Human Idioms (Three lectures on Jawaharlal Nehru), The Swan and the Eagle: Essays on Indian English Literature, Raja Rao, Makers of Indian English literature and The Flowering of Australian Literature are some of the other books published by him.

Narasimhaiah was married to Ramalakshamma and the couple had a son, C. N. Srinath who co-wrote some of his books, and a daughter. He died in Bengaluru, at his daughter's house, on 12 April 2005,

Awards and honors The Government of Karnataka awarded him the Rajyotsava Prashasthi, the second highest civilian honor of the State in 1987. He held the fellowships of several institutions which included Indian Institute of Advanced Studies (1968), Leeds University (1971–72), Texas University (1972–73 and 1975–76), Peradeniya University, (1979) and Flinders University (1980). and "C.D. Narasimhaiah's Contribution to Post-Colonial Literary Criticism" is a study of his writings.