N. P. Mohammed (July 1, 1928 – January 3, 2003), popularly known by his initials N. P., was an Indian novelist, short story writer and screenwriter of

Malayalam language 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 ...

. Along with his contemporaries like

M. T. Vasudevan Nair Madath Thekkepaattu Vasudevan Nair (born 1933 July 15 ), popularly known as MT, is an Indian author, screenplay writer and film director. He is a prolific and versatile writer in modern Malayalam literature, and is one of the masters of post-I ...

, O. V. Vijayan,

Kakkanadan George Varghese Kakkanadan (23 April 1935 – 19 October 2011), commonly known as Kakkanadan, was an Indian short-story writer and novelist in the Malayalam language. His works broke away from the neo-realism that dominated Malayalam literature ...

, and Madhavikutty, he was known to have been one of the pioneers of

modernist Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, an ...

movement in Malayalam fiction. He was the president of

Kerala Sahitya Akademi The Kerala Sahitya Akademi or Academy for Malayalam literature is an autonomous body established to promote the Malayalam language and Malayalam literature, literature. It is situated in City of Thrissur, Kerala in India. History The academy ...

and a recipient of several awards including

Kendra 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 ...

Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Story The Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Story is an award given every year by the Kerala Sahitya Akademi (Kerala Literary Academy) to Malayalam writers for writing a story of literary merit. It is one of the twelve categories of the Kerala Sahitya A ...

Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Novel The Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Novel is an award given every year by the Kerala Sahitya Akademi (Kerala Literary Academy) to Malayalam writers for writing a novel of literary merit. It is one of the twelve categories of the Kerala Sahitya ...

, Lalithambika Antharjanam Award,

Padmaprabha Literary Award Padmaprabha Literary Award for contributions to the field of Malayalam literature is instituted by the Padmaprabha Foundation. A prestigious literary prize in Malayalam, the award was instituted in memory of freedom fighter and socialist Padmaprab ...

and the

Muttathu Varkey Award Muttathu Varkey Award for contributions to the field of Malayalam literature is instituted by the Muttattu Varkey Foundation in memory of novelist Muttathu Varkey. The award was instituted in 1992 and as of 2012, it carries a purse of 50000, a c ...

Biography

N. P. Mohammed was born on July 1, 1929, at Koondungal, in the present-day

Kozhikode district Kozhikode (), or Calicut district, is one of the 14 districts in the Indian state of Kerala, along its Southwestern Malabar Coast. The city of Kozhikode, also known as Calicut, is the district headquarters. The district is 67.15% urbanised. ...

of the south Indian state of

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 ...

to N. P. Abu, a freedom fighter, and Imbichi Pathumma Beevi. N. P. Moideen, a noted politician and a member of

Kerala Legislative Assembly The Kerala Legislative Assembly, popularly known as the Kerala Niyamasabha, is the State Assembly of Kerala, one of the 28 states in India. The Assembly is formed by 140 elected representatives. Each elected member represents one of the 140 c ...

, was his brother. Mohammed did his schooling at the local school in Koondungal, Basel Mission School,

Parappanangadi Parappanangadi, , is a major town and a municipality in Tirurangadi taluk of Malappuram district, Kerala, India. It is a coastal town located close to the Arabian sea. Parappanangadi railway station is one of the oldest railway stations in Ker ...

, and Ganapathi School, Kozhikode before completing college education at

Zamorin's Guruvayurappan College The Zamorin's Guruvayurappan College is an aided college in Kozhikode, Kerala, India offering graduation and post-graduation courses. It is affiliated to the University of Calicut. History The original institution was founded by the Zamorin ...

. He started his career as a clerk at a co-operative society but soon moved to the Housing Board Co-operative Society, Kozhikode where he served for the next three decades before superannuating from service as its secretary. He served as the resident editor of

Kerala Kaumudi ''Kerala Kaumudi'' is a Malayalam language daily newspaper published from Kerala, India. It was founded in 1911 by C. V. Kunhiraman as a periodical. His son K. Sukumaran later served as the newspaper's editor. Kerala Kaumudi Daily is among th ...

and was associated with a number of publications such as ''Navasahithi'', ''Nireekshanam'', ''Gopuram'', ''Pradeepam'' and ''Jagratha'' where he served as the member of their editorial boards. Mohammed was married to Imbichi Pathumma, the marriage taking place in 1952 and the couple had seven children, including writer and academic, N. P. Hafiz Mohamad Mohammed died on January 3, 2003, at the age of 74, succumbing to

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

at a private hospital in Kozhikode. His mortal remains were laid to rest at Kannamparambu Kabarstan, in the presence of his friends and dignitaries including

U. A. Khader U. A. Khader (16 November 193512 December 2020) was an Indian author. He published in Malayalam, including novels, novellas, short stories, travelogues and non-fiction. His works have been translated to various languages including English, Hindi ...

, P. Valsala,

K. T. Mohammed K. T. Muhammed (29 September 1927 – 25 March 2008), popularly known as KT, was a Malayalam playwright and screenwriter. He had scripted about 40 stage plays, including ''Idhu Bhumiyanu'' (''This is the Earth''), considered to be his masterpie ...

, Sukumar Azhikode, M. M. Basheer,

P. V. Gangadharan Parayarukandi Vettath Gangadharan is an Indian film producer and businessman from Kerala. He has produced 22 Malayalam films under his production company Grihalakshmi Productions. As a producer, he has won two National Film Awards, five Kera ...

and U. K. Kumaran.

Legacy

Mohammed was known to have been among the group of writers such as

, O. V. Vijayan,

, and

Kamala Das Kamala Surayya (born Kamala; 31 March 1934 – 31 May 2009), popularly known by her one-time pen name Madhavikutty and married name Kamala Das, was an Indian poet in English as well as an author in Malayalam from Kerala, India. Her popularity ...

who pioneered

movement in Malayalam fiction in the 1950s. His oeuvre comprises eight novels, ten short story anthologies and a number of other books. He co-wrote one his novels, '' Arabi Ponnu'' (''The Arab Gold''), with

; it was reported that both writers stayed together in a rented house in Karuvarakkundu village,

Kozhikode Kozhikode (), also known in English as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. It has a corporation limit population of 609,224 and a metropolitan population of more than 2 million, making it the second la ...

for a period of two weeks to complete the work. The novel ''Hiranyakasipu'', which tells us a story of power and politics, brings characters from Hindu mythology into a modern political setting in

. His last work, ''Muhammad Abdurrahman'', a fictional biography on the life of the noted

Indian independence activist The Indian independence movement consisted of efforts by individuals and organizations from a wide spectrum of society to obtain political independence from the British, French and Portuguese rule through the use of a many methods. This is a l ...

Mohammed Abdur Rahiman Muhammad Abdu Rahiman, also Muhammad Abdu Rahiman Sahib; 1898 – 23 April 1945) was an Indian freedom fighter, Muslim leader, scholar, and politician from Kerala. He served as president of Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee(Malabar) in 1939. ...

, was found as manuscript after his death and was published posthumously. Three of his stories were adapted into films, '' Maram'', '' Maanyamahaajanangale'' and ''

Veeraputhran ''Veeraputhran'' ( ml, വീരപുത്രൻ; en, "Brave Son") is a 2011 Malayalam historical film directed by P. T. Kunju Muhammed based on the story written by N. P. Mohammed, which is based on the life of Indian Freedom fighter and ant ...

'' of which he wrote dialogues for two and screenplay for one. Mohammed served as the president of the

from 2001 until his death in 2003. Prior to that, he was a member of the governing council of the Akademi and was a member of the

Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Academy is located in Thrissur city, of Kerala, in India. It was established on 26 April 1958, inaugurated by then Indian Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. The academy started a cultural centre at the Bahrain Kerala ...

, Kendra Sahitya Akademi and the

Central Board of Film Certification The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is a statutory film-certification body in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India. It is tasked with "regulating the public exhibition of films under the provision ...

. He was one of the founder members of the ''Islam and Modern Age Society'', and was the translator of ''Islam Between East and West'', written by

Alija Izetbegović Alija Izetbegović (; ; 8 August 1925 – 19 October 2003) was a Bosnian politician, lawyer, Islamic philosopher and author, who in 1992 became the first president of the Presidency of the newly independent Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina ...

Awards and honours

Mohammed received his first major award for his first novel, ''Thoppiyum Chattavum'', in 1953 from the

Government of Madras A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

when Malabar was a part of the state of Madras. The

chose his short story anthology, ''Presidentinte Adyathe Maranam'', for their annual award for story in 1970. A decade later, Akademi honoured him again with the

in 1981 for the novel, ''Ennappadam''. He received the

in 1993 for his work, ''Daivathinte KannuAwards & Fellowships-Akademi Awards
the same year as he received the Samastha Kerala Sahithya Parishad Award. In 1997, he was selected for the Lalithambika Antharjanam Smaraka Sahitya Award followed by the

in 2000 and the

in 2001. He was also a recipient of the Padmanabha Swami Puraskaram and the C. V. Raman Pillai Award for his non-fiction work, ''Veera Rasam CV Krithikalil''.

List of works

Novels

* * * * * * * * * * *

Short story collections

* * * * *

Essays

* * * * * * * *

Poetry

Children's literature

Translation

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mohammed, N. P. 1929 births 2003 deaths Indian Muslims Writers from Kozhikode Malayalam novelists Malayalam short story writers Malayalam-language writers Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Malayalam Recipients of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award 20th-century Indian short story writers 20th-century Indian novelists Indian male short story writers Indian male novelists Novelists from Kerala 20th-century Indian male writers