Bengaluru Gundappa Lakshminarayana Swamy (5 February 1916 – 2 November 1980) was an Indian

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

and

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

writer who was professor, head of the

botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

department and principal of Presidency College, Chennai. He was the son of

D. V. Gundappa Devanahalli Venkataramanaiah Gundappa (17 March 1887 – 7 October 1975), popularly known as DVG, was an Indian writer, poet and philosopher in Kannada-language. He is one of the stalwarts of modern Kannada literature. His most notable work is th ...

, an Indian philosopher and writer in the

language.

Early life and career

Swamy was born in 1916 to

and Bhagirathamma. He studied at Central College in

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

and obtained his bachelor's degree in

. After this, and at the suggestion of his father, he began to study the

embryology Embryology (from Greek ἔμβρυον, ''embryon'', "the unborn, embryo"; and -λογία, '' -logia'') is the branch of animal biology that studies the prenatal development of gametes (sex cells), fertilization, and development of embryos and ...

of orchids at home after obtaining a second-hand microscope, a

microtome A microtome (from the Greek ''mikros'', meaning "small", and ''temnein'', meaning "to cut") is a cutting tool used to produce extremely thin slices of material known as ''sections''. Important in science, microtomes are used in microscopy, allow ...

and some basic laboratory tools. He received a PhD from the University of Mysore in 1947 and had a brief post-doctoral period at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

under Irving Widmer Bailey. From 1953, he served as a professor of botany (and later the principal) at Presidency College, Chennai. He briefly served as a visiting professor of the botany department at the University of

Mysuru Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...

during 1979–80. Notably,

and B. G. L. Swamy became the first father-son duo to win the

Sahitya Akademi Award The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the ...

. While conferring the award to Dr. Swamy, the then-president of

Sahitya Akademi The Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, is an organisation dedicated to the promotion of literature in the languages of India. Founded on 12 March 1954, it is supported by, though independent of, the Indian government. Its of ...

Umashankar Joshi Umashankar Jethalal Joshi () (21 July 1911 – 19 December 1988) was an Indian poet, scholar and writer known for his contributions to Gujarati literature. He wrote most of his works in Gujarati. Biograpy Early years Umashankar Joshi was ...

, described him as "the famous son of a famous father". B. P. Radhakrishna has authored a book about the life and achievements of Dr. Swamy.

Research

Swamy's primary research area was

plant anatomy Plant anatomy or phytotomy is the general term for the study of the internal structure of plants. Originally it included plant morphology, the description of the physical form and external structure of plants, but since the mid-20th century plant ...

, particularly the structure of connections between plants' roots and stems. He discovered several plant species, including ''

Ascarina maheshwarii ''Ascarina'' is an ancient, woody, angiosperm genus. It is a distinct genus of ''Chloranthaceae'' consisting of less than twenty species, found in the Australian region, the Pacific Islands and Madagascar. They can grow up to six metres tall and ...

'' and ''

Sarcandra irvingbaileyi ''Sarcandra'' is a genus of the family Chloranthaceae, containing three species native to Asia. Species * ''Sarcandra glabra'' (Thunb.) Nakai * ''Sarcandra grandifolia ''Sarcandra'' is a genus of the family Chloranthaceae, containing three s ...

'', which he named after two of his teachers. In 1976, he was awarded the

Birbal Sahni Birbal Sahni Royal Society, FRS (14 November 1891 – 10 April 1949) was an Indian paleobotanist who studied the fossils of the Indian subcontinent. He also took an interest in geology and archaeology. He founded what is now the Birbal Sahni Ins ...

gold medal by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

for his work in botany.

Writings

Swamy's literary works encompass a wide range of topics. Many of them are related to botany and introduce botanical concepts to the layperson. A few of his books cover plants used in everyday life in a scientific manner, such as (South America in Our Stomach). Other works by Swamy pertain to literature, and some of them are partially autobiographical, dealing with his experiences as a professor and principal. Apart from being an acclaimed botanist, B. G. L. Swamy was widely respected in the history and literary circles. He extensively studied and researched the histories and literature of the

and

Tamil Language Tamil (; ' , ) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. Tamil is an official language of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the sovereign nations of Sri Lanka and Singapore, and the Indian territory of Pudu ...

s. His book (Among the Tamil Heads) is devoted to examining theories pertaining to the language's origins (examining the claims that were being made in those days by the Dravidian parties) and mostly debunking them. In this book, he debunks some of the theories put forward by Tamil linguists and historians such as

Iravatham Mahadevan Iravatham Mahadevan (2 October 1930 – 26 November 2018) was an Indian epigraphist and civil servant, known for his decipherment of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions and for his expertise on the epigraphy of the Indus Valley civilisation. Early life ...

and Nilkanta Shastri. He raised questions regarding gaping holes and contradictions he discovered in their theories. According to N. K. Ramasheshan, Dr. Swamy authored more than 300 research articles in English, Spanish, German, Latin and French that were published in well-known papers of international repute.

His book (Green Gold) won him the Kendra Sahitya Academy award given by the

in 1978. With that, Gundappa and Swamy became the first father and son duo to win this prestigious award. is a treatise on some familiar and unfamiliar botanical species. It is also a travelogue enlivened by human drama and humor. Students of advanced botany undertake scientific tours in the company of their teachers for the identification and collection of botanical specimens. Swamy was a gifted man of letters with an observant eye, a sense of humour and, at the same time, a deep interest in history and the fine arts such as music, painting and architecture. Thus, as an artist and a scientist, he could explore and explain the world of botany in the light of a wider understanding. He describes the externals of a specimen with vivid precision and technical detail, but his account of the genus and species is only a prelude to a livelier, non-technical account of its appearance, its locations and its practical uses. Sometimes the reader discovers how the specimen claimed attention by appearing in well-known literary works of antiquity. The book thus unfolds before the reader the abundant riches and the endless variety of the botanical world, as well as the hundreds of ways it helps humans. The human variety and the different characters, all memorably visualized, provide ample scope for portraying dramatic situations of all kinds, from the comic to the romantic. The book primarily deals with the world of plants but it deals also with the world of humans. is as informative as it is delightful.

Books

* () * () * () * () * () * () * () * () * () (incomplete) * () * () * () * () * () (incomplete) * () (translation from Kannada by

U. V. Swaminatha Iyer Uttamadhanapuram Venkatasubbaiyer Swaminatha Iyer (19 February 1855 – 28 April 1942) was a Tamil scholar and researcher who was instrumental in bringing many long-forgotten works of classical Tamil literature to light. His singular efforts ...

) * () (translation from Kannada by Subrahmanya Bharathi) * () (translation from Kannada by Chetti) * () * () * ()

Awards

* Karnataka Sahitya Academy Award for *

Award for ''Hasuru Honnu'' * Rajyotsava Prashasti by the

Government of Karnataka The Government of Karnataka, abbreviated as, GoK, or simply Karnataka Government, is a democratically-elected state body with the governor as the ceremonial head to govern the Southwest Indian state of Karnataka. The governor who is appointed ...

* Kannada Sahitya Parishat Award *

gold medal by the

for his work in botany.

References

External links

Remembering B. G. L. Swamy on Kamat.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swamy, B. G. L. 1916 births University of Mysore alumni Harvard University people Kannada-language writers Writers from Bangalore 1980 deaths Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Kannada 20th-century Indian botanists Scientists from Bangalore Indian botanical writers Indian autobiographers 20th-century Indian non-fiction writers Presidency College, Chennai faculty