A. N. Swamy Venkatadri Iyer (13 January 1898 – 14 February 1939), known by his pen name as Samsa, was an early 20th century's Indian historical playwright in Kannada language. His plays ''Suguna Gambhira'', ''Vigada Vikramaraya'' and ''Bettada Arasu'' have been made into stage dramas and prescribed as textbooks in various universities in Karnataka. He was called as ''Shakespeare of Kannada Drama''. An open air theatre in the premises of government owned

Ravindra Kalakshetra Ravindra Kalakshetra is a cultural centre in Bangalore which provides a home for musical and theatrical performances. Located in heart of Bangalore city, it was built to commemorate the birth centenary of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore. Many ...

, is named after Samsa.

Personal life

Samsa was born as Venkatadri Iyer to Narasimha Pandita and Gowramma in Agara,

Yelandur Yalandur is a taluk and town in Chamarajanagar district in southern Karnataka, India. It has historic and cultural importance in this region. Along with three other taluks, it was officially included into Chamarajanagar district when the distric ...

in erstwhile

Kingdom of Mysore The Kingdom of Mysore was a realm in southern India, traditionally believed to have been founded in 1399 in the vicinity of the modern city of Mysore. From 1799 until 1950, it was a princely state, until 1947 in a subsidiary alliance with Brit ...

. He worked in various schools and offices as teacher and clerk across Mysore, Hassan, Mumbai and other places. He was known for his eccentric behavior. He remained unmarried and led a secluded life. He suffered from Persecution Complex and used to wander from one place to another.

As writer

It's said that Samsa had written more than 23 dramas out of which only 6 are available. He is regarded as the first historical playwright in modern

Kannada literature Kannada literature is the corpus of written forms of the Kannada language, a member of the Dravidian family spoken mainly in the Indian state of Karnataka and written in the Kannada script. Attestations in literature span one and a half ...

. His plays were based on the administration and history of Mysore kings in the

. The language he used in dramas was Halegannada ().

Plays

* ''Suguna Gambhira'' * ''Birudanthembara Ganda'' * ''Vigada Vikramaraya'' * ''Bettada Arasu'' * ''Vijayanarasimha'' * ''Manthrashakti''

Novels

* ''Koushala'' * ''Sherlock Homes in Jail''

Poems

* ''Shreemanthodyana Varnanam'' * ''Samsapadam'' * ''Eeshaprakopana'' * ''Naraka Duryodhaneeyam'' * ''Acchumba''

Death

Samsa committed suicide on 14 February 1939 in a small room of Sadvidya School,

Mysore Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...

where he spent last years of his life. He left a suicide note:

Books on Samsa

Many writers have tried bringing things out from Samsa's secluded life. Notable works on him are: * "''Samsa Kavi''" (Biography) –

G. P. Rajarathnam G. P. Rajarathnam (1909–1979), known by his pen name as Bhramara ''(meaning:Bee)'', was a Kannada author, lyricist and poet in Karnataka, India. Rajarathnam was well known for composing poems for children. Nissar Ahmed, once quoted as "h ...

* "''Samsa Smarane: Jeevana Chithrana''" – Aa. Na. Subramanyam * "''Neegikonda Samsa''" (play) – Ki. Ram. Nagaraj * "''Samsa''" (novel) – Prof. Maleyur Guruswamy

References

{{Reflist Writers in British India Kannada poets 1898 births 1939 deaths 20th-century Indian writers Kannada people 1939 suicides Suicides in India