Thenpattinam Ponnuswamy Meenakshisundaram (1901–1980), popularly known as Te Po Meenkshisunadaranar, was an Indian scholar, writer of

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 ...

and English literature and the founder vice chancellor of

Madurai Kamaraj University Madurai Kamaraj University (MKU) is a public state university located in Madurai city, in southern Tamil Nadu, India, established in 1966. MKU is one of the 15 universities in India with the University with Potential for Excellence status, wh ...

Life

Born on 8 January 1901 at Thenpattinam, in the erstwhile Chengelput district of the south Indian state of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

to S. Ponnusami Gramani, Meenakshisundaram did his college studies at

Pachaiyappa's College Pachaiyappa's College is one of the oldest educational institutions in Chennai, in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. In addition, it is the first sole Indian college in Madras Presidency. History Pachaiyappa's College, Chennai is the resul ...

from where he secured his BA (1920), BL (1922), MA in History (1923) and a Diploma in Economics. After starting his career in 1923 as a lawyer and serving the Madras Corporation Council in 1924, he shifted his career as a professor of Tamil and served

Annamalai University , logo = CampusmapofAU.jpg , image = Annamalai University logo.png , image_size = 225px , motto = "With Courage and Faith" , established = , type ...

from 1954 to 1958 and the

Presidency College, Chennai Presidency College is an art, commerce, and science college in the city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu, India. On 16 October 1840, this school was established as the Madras Preparatory School before being repurposed as a high school, and then a gra ...

till 1961. He was serving as the director of the Center for Advanced Study in Dravidian Linguistics of Annamalai University when he was appointed as the founder vice chancellor of Madurai Kamaraj University in 1966, a post he held till 1971. Meenakshisundaram published several works in Tamil and English. He is best known for his English renderings of the

Tirukkural The ''Tirukkuṟaḷ'' ( ta, திருக்குறள், lit=sacred verses), or shortly the ''Kural'' ( ta, குறள்), is a classic Tamil language text consisting of 1,330 short couplets, or kurals, of seven words each. The tex ...

published in 1919, in which he republished the work of his mentor Vadivelu Chettiar, appending it with his own English renderings. His notable works include ''Philosophy of Tiruvalluvar'', ''A history of Tamil Language'', ''A history of Tamil Literature'', and ''Aesthetics of the Tamils''. He was a recipient of several honors such as the Tamil Nadu Sahitya Akademi Award (1975), and honorary doctorates from Madurai Kamaraj University (1967),

University of Colombo (Buddhih Sarvatra Bhrajate) , mottoeng = ''Wisdom Enlightens'' , established = , endowment = LKR 1.461 billion

(1973) and

Annamalai University , logo = CampusmapofAU.jpg , image = Annamalai University logo.png , image_size = 225px , motto = "With Courage and Faith" , established = , type ...

(1976). The Government of India awarded him the third highest civilian honour of the

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

, in 1977, for his contributions to literature and education. He died on 27 August 1980, at the age of 79. Madurai Kamaraj University has since instituted an endowment prize, ''Dr. T. P. Meenakshisundaram Endowment Prize'', in his honor.

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Life

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