Jose Punnamparambil is a senior European journalist and translator from

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. He has been translating

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

works into

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

for 52 years. In 2018, he received

Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for overall contributions The Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Overall Contributions is an award given every year by the Kerala Sahitya Akademi (Kerala Literary Academy) to Malayalam writers for their overall contributions to Malayalam literature. It is one of the twelve ...

to the Malayalam literature.

Biography

Jose Punnamparambil was born in 1936 May 10, at Edukkalam near Irinjalakkuda in Thrissur district. He immigrated to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

with a media study scholarship in 1966, after graduating with a degree in English Literature from the

University of Mumbai The University of Mumbai is a collegiate university, collegiate, State university (India), state-owned, Public university, public research university in Mumbai. The University of Mumbai is one of the largest universities in the world. , the un ...

. While training in social work and journalism, he worked as a government official and college teacher in Mumbai. He worked for five years in Germany as a freelance journalist and has been a member of the advisory board of the Indo-German Society for the past 16 years. While in Germany, Jose published a Malayalam periodical named ''Nadan Kath'' literally meaning local letter. The publication ''Ente Lokam'' (Meaning: my world) which he started in 1973 is still being published in Germany as ''Nammude Lokam'' (Meaning: our world). He also published German translation of ''Ente lokam'' named ''Mein Welt'' in 1984. His contributions include 20 books and documentaries in German and Malayalam. In 2014, Jose made a documentary titled ''Translated Lives'', which chronicles the life of Malayalee nurses who immigrated to Germany from 1960 onwards. This documentary was well received. His documentary ''Ariyapedatha Jeevithangal'' (The Unknown Lives) is based on migration of Catholic nuns from Kerala to Germany in the 1970s. Jose was instrumental in establishing a Malayalam Literary Chair named after

Herman Gundert Hermann Gundert (Stuttgart, 4 February 1814 – 25 April 1893 in Calw, Germany) was a German missionary, scholar, and linguist, as well as the maternal grandfather of German novelist and Nobel laureate Hermann Hesse. Gundert is chiefly known ...

at the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Wü ...

. He studied Malayalam literature for the Nobel Prize Committee and formed the ''Literature Forum India'' in Germany.

Family

He and his wife Sosamma have two children. They lives in

Unkel Unkel is a town in the district of Neuwied, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Rhine, near Remagen, about 20 km southeast of Bonn. Unkel is the seat of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' ("collective municipali ...

in Germany.

Notable works

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Awards and honors

Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Overall Contributions The Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Overall Contributions is an award given every year by the Kerala Sahitya Akademi (Kerala Literary Academy) to Malayalam writers for their overall contributions to Malayalam literature. It is one of the twelve ...

* GMF (Global Malayali Federation) Literary Award 2016 * Cross of the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

2022

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Punnamparambil, Jose 1936 births People from Thrissur district Living people German-language writers Translators to German Malayali people Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany