Eminent scholar-writer Vellayani Arjunan passes away at 90

Arjunan was an author of over 40 books of different genres, including poetry, short stories, children's fiction, essays, literary criticism, research articles and so on

Eminent scholar, linguist, academician and writer Vellayani Arjunan died at a hospital here following a brief illness, family sources said. He was 90.

A Padmashree awardee, Arjunan had been a prominent figure in the academic, cultural and literary sphere of Kerala for decades and a recepient of three D-Litt degrees.

An author of over 40 books of different genres including poetry, short stories, children's fiction, essays, literary criticism, research articles and so on, Arjunan had the credit of having post graduations in Malayalam, English and Hindi, and PG diplomas in Telugu, Kannada and Tamil.

He began his illustrious career as a research assistant in the Kerala Lexicon Department and later became a member of the Malayalam faculty at SN College in Kollam.

He rose to the position of the head of the Department of Modern Indian Languages at Aligarh Muslim University years later.

He had also served as the director of the state Institute of Encyclopaedic Publications, the state Institute of Languages, and the School of Communication and Information Science at Mahatma Gandhi University in Kottayam.

Arjunan received Padma Shri for his overall contributions in various fields in 2008.

He is survived by wife Radhamani, children and grandchildren.