Prapanchan, is the pseudonym of S. Vaidyalingam ( ta, சாரங்கபாணி வைத்தியலிங்கம்; 27 April 1945 – 21 December 2018) a

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, nativ ...

, writer and critic from

Puducherry Puducherry or Pondicherry may refer to: * Puducherry (union territory), a union territory of India ** Pondicherry, capital of the union territory of Puducherry ** Puducherry district, a district of the union territory of Puducherry ** Puducherry t ...

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 ...

Biography

Prapanchan was born in

Pondicherry Pondicherry (), now known as Puducherry ( French: Pondichéry ʊdʊˈtʃɛɹi(listen), on-dicherry, is the capital and the most populous city of the Union Territory of Puducherry in India. The city is in the Puducherry district on the sout ...

and did his schooling in Petit Seminaire Higher Secondary School, Puducherry. His birth name was Vaidyalingam. His father ran a

toddy shop A toddy shop is a drinking establishment seen in some parts of India (particularly Kerala) where palm toddy, a mildly alcoholic beverage made from the sap of palm trees, is served along with food. The food served with toddy is very spicy and ho ...

. He attended the Karandhai College and graduated as a Tamil

Vidwan In Hindu philosophy ''vidvān'' alludes to an expert in discrimination, to the one who is an expert in the Vedanta ''Vedanta'' (; sa, वेदान्त, ), also ''Uttara Mīmāṃsā'', is one of the six (''āstika'') schools of Hindu ...

. He started his career as a Tamil teacher in

Thanjavur Thanjavur (), also Tanjore, Pletcher 2010, p. 195 is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is the 11th biggest city in Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is an important center of South Indian religion, art, and architecture. Most of the Gr ...

. He also worked as a journalist in ''

Kumudam ''Kumudam'' is a Tamil weekly magazine published in Chennai, India. It was founded in 1948 by S.A.P. Annamalai, and his close friend and confidante P.V. Parthasarathy. Now the magazine is published under the Kumudam Group, which also publishes ...

'', ''

Ananda Vikatan ''Ananda Vikatan'' is a Tamil-language weekly magazine published from Chennai, India. History and profile ''Ananda Vikatan'' was started by Late Pudhoor Vaidyanadhaiyar in February 1926 as a monthly publication. The issue for December 1927 wa ...

'' and'' Kungumam''. In 1961, he published his first short story ''Enna ulagamada'' in the magazine ''Bharani''. He was influenced by the Self-Respect Movement. He had published 46 books. In 1995, he was awarded 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 ...

for

for his historical novel ''Vaanam Vasappadum'' (lit. The Sky will be ours) set in the times of

Ananda Ranga Pillai M. R. Ry. Ananda Ranga Pillai ( ta, ஆனந்தரங்கம் பிள்ளை; 30 March 1709 – 16 January 1761) (often pronounced as ''Ānañtarañkam Pillai'') was a '' dubash'' in the service of the French East India Company. He ...

. His works have been translated into Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, German, French, English and Swedish. His play ''Muttai'' is part of the curriculum in

Delhi University Delhi University (DU), formally the University of Delhi, is a collegiate central university located in New Delhi, India. It was founded in 1922 by an Act of the Central Legislative Assembly and is recognized as an Institute of Eminence (IoE) ...

and his short story collection ''Netrru Manidhargal'' is a textbook in many colleges. He was married to Pramila Rani and they have three sons. He was living in

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

and Pondicherry. He was diagnosed with lung cancer (Squamous cell carcinoma), for which he underwent palliative chemotherapy from Manakula Vinayagar Medical College & Hospital under the department of pulmonary medicine and oncology. On 21 December 2018 he died of respiratory failure and tumor metastasis.Tamil Sahitya Akademi Awards 1955-2007

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 ...

Official website.

Partial bibliography

Novels

*''Vaanam vasappadum'' *''Mahanadhi'' * ''Manudam vellum'' *''Sandhya'' *''Kagidha Manidhargal'' *''Kaneeral Kappom'' *''Penmai velga'' *''Padhavi'' *''Erodu Thamizhar uyirodu''

Novellas

*''Aangalum Pengalum''

Short story collections

*''Nerru Manidhargal'' *''Vittu Viduthalayagi'' *''Iruttin Vaasal'' *''Oru ooril irandu manidhargal'' * '' Appavin veshti '' * ''Mari engira aatukutti''

Plays

*''Muttai'' *''Akalya''

Awards and recognitions

in Tamil, 1996 for ''Vaanam vasappadum'' *

Bharatiya Bhasha Parishad Bharatiya Bhasha Parishad, a Kolkata-based literary organization was founded on 1975 by Sitaram Seksaria and Bhagirat H Kanodia with the aim of promoting Indian languages. It works for the development of Indian literature through publication of b ...

Award *Coimbatore Kasturi Rangammal Award for ''Mahanadhi''
Ilakkiya Chinthanai Award for ''Manudam vellum''
* Adithanar award for ''Sandhya'' *Award for Non-Fiction from

The Tamil Literary Garden The Tamil Literary Garden, is a Canadian literary organization and charity founded in 2001. The focus of this organization is on supporting translations of Tamil literature, sponsoring lecture series, commissioning publications, launching books ...

, Toronto

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1945 births 2018 deaths Novelists from Puducherry Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Tamil Tamil writers Indian Tamil people People from Pondicherry 20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Indian novelists 20th-century Indian short story writers