Puthussery Ramachandran

Puthussery Ramachandran Pillai (23 September 1928 – 14 March 2020) was an Indian poet of the Malayalam language. He was a scholar of Dravidian linguistics and a professor of Malayalam for more than three decades. On 14 March 2020, he died of age-related illnesses.

Career

Ramachandran completed his B.A (Honors) with first rank from the University College, Trivandrum in 1956. He joined S.N. College, Kollam as lecturer in 1957 and later became the Professor in Malayalam. Ramachandran was a member of the Syndicate of the University of Kerala and was the General Secretary of First World Conference on Malayalam language and Kerala Culture organised by the University of Kerala in 1977. He was the Organizing Secretary of the First All India Conference on Dravidian Linguistics in 1971.

Poetry

Ramachandran's literary efforts were recognised by the Sahitya Akademi, who gave him their national award for translation. In 2009 Kerala Sahitya Akademi conferred him with a fellowship, the most distinguished honour of the Academy. He did much to promote Malayalam language and literature. On the basis of the document prepared and submitted by Government of Kerala with his guidance and leadership, Malayalam was recognised as a classical language by the Government of India in 2013.

In recognition of his contributions to the studies on Early and Medieval Malayalam language and literature, the Sahitya Akademi selected him for the Bhasha Samman in 2014.