} R. Krishnamurthy (18 January 1933 – 4 March 2021) was a former editor of the

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

daily

Dinamalar ''Dinamalar'' is an Indian Tamil daily newspaper. It was founded in 1951 by T. V. Ramasubba Iyer. ''Dinamalar'' has an average circulation of 942,812 (ABC Jan-June 2016) History Dinamalar was founded by T. V. Ramasubbaiyer on 6 September 195 ...

and also a renowned Tamil script epigraphist and numismatist in India. The second son of

founder,

T. V. Ramasubbaiyer Thazhuvia Ramasubbaiyer (2 October 1908 – 21 July 1984), popularly referred to as TVR, was a philanthropist and founder of the popular Tamil daily newspaper Dinamalar. Early life Ramasubbaiyer was born to a brahmin family on 2 October 1908 a ...

, he became editor of

in 1977. In later years, he took a keen interest in studying various Tamil inscriptions of different periods, especially the ‘ Vatteluttu’ script. His interest in Tamil script

epigraphy Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...

led him to numismatics. He discovered various coins of the

Sangam period, which he published in a book titled ‘Sangam Age Tamil Coins’. He also published other books based on his findings and research in Tamil script

and numismatics in Tamilnadu. Krishnamurthy founded the Tamilnadu Numismatic Society in Chennai, in 1986, and the South Indian Numismatic Society, in 1991. The Royal Numismatic Society in London honoured him by electing him a fellow of the society, in 1998. A recipient of several awards and honours, he presented his research work at several conferences in India and abroad.

Early life

R. Krishnamurthy was born in Vadiveeswaram, Nagercoil, (present-day Kanyakumari District), in the then princely state of Travancore. He was the second son of freedom fighter, social activist and journalist

, who founded the popular Tamil daily

. He had his schooling at Sethu Lakshmi Bai (SLB) school in Nagercoil and pre-degree education at Scott Christian College, Nagercoil. He later went on to complete his B.Sc. degree in Geology at Alagappa College (later University) in Karaikudi and Master’s degree (in the same subject) from Presidency College, Madras (now Chennai).

Career

Krishnamurthy joined

in 1956, which was then headquartered in Thiruvananthapuram. With the reorganisation of states in India, the newspaper shifted its operations to Tirunelveli (in Tamilnadu) in 1957. Eventually, the head office of the newspaper was shifted to Chennai, where he became Editor of the newspaper in 1977. He was elected General Secretary of the India Newspaper Editors’ Conference in 1991.

Epigraphy

Krishnamurthy introduced the

simplified Tamil script Simplified Tamil script or Reformed Tamil script refers to several governmental reforms to the Tamil script. In 1978, the Government of Tamil Nadu reformed certain syllables of the modern Tamil script with view to simplify the script. It aimed ...

, originally proposed by

Periyar E. V. Ramasamy Erode Venkatappa Ramasamy (17 September 1879 – 24 December 1973), revered as Periyar or Thanthai Periyar, was an Indian social activist and politician who started the Self-Respect Movement and Dravidar Kazhagam. He is known as the 'Fa ...

(Thanthai Periyar), in the Tiruchirappalli edition of his newspaper in 1977. In the course of time, several other Tamil dailies and periodicals introduced this script in their publications. In the late 1970’s, the

Government of Tamilnadu Government of Tamil Nadu is the subnational government for the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is seated at Fort St George, Chennai. The legislature of Tamil Nadu was bicameral until 1986, when it was replaced by a unicameral legislature, like ...

adopted it in its school textbooks. He later made studies on the origins of the

language and script, especially with reference to the ‘ Vatteluttu’ script. His findings and research became the basis for three books in Tamil.

Numismatics

Krishnamurthy’s interest in the Tamil script and its origins later kindled his interests in Numismatics, which made him travel across the globe. He was especially interested in the coins minted by the old Tamil kingdoms of the Sangam period – the Chera, Chola and the Pandyas. He discovered various coins of the

Sangam period, which he published in a book titled ''Sangam Age Tamil Coins''. He also studied and published monographs on Roman and Greek coins found in Tamilnadu, around Karur. Krishnamurthy founded the Tamilnadu Numismatic Society in Chennai, in 1986, and the South Indian Numismatic Society, in 1991.

Awards and honours

The Royal Numismatic Society in London honoured Krishnamurthy by electing him a fellow of the society, in 1998. In 2015, he was honoured with the Tolkappiyar award by the President of India, for his research work on Tamil. The Numismatic Society of India awarded him the C.H. Biddulph and T. Desakachari medals. In 2004, the Madurai Kamaraj University conferred on him the degree of Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Krishnamurthy, R People from Kanyakumari district People from Nagercoil 1933 births 2021 deaths Indian epigraphers Indian numismatists