Thiruvarur Viruttachala Kalyanasundaram (Aged 70) also known as Thiru. Vi. Ka., was born on August 26, 1883, in Thandalam, Kancheepuram district, Tamil Nadu, India. He was a Tamil scholar, essayist, and activist who is renowned for the humanism in his essays, the analytical depth of his commentaries on classical Tamil literature and philosophy, and the clear, fluid style of his prose. Along with V.O. Chidambaram Pillai, Maraimalai Adigal, and Arumuga Navalar, his works are considered to have defined the style of modern Tamil prose.
Thiru. Vi. Ka. attended the Wesley College High School and studied Tamil under Maraimalai Adigal and N. Kathiravel Pillai of Jaffna. He briefly worked as a teacher and became an editorial assistant on Desabaktan, a nationalist, Tamil daily newspaper in 1917. Thiru. Vi. Ka. was soon involved in various aspects of the independence movement and became a strong campaigner for worker rights. In 1918, he became active in the trade union movement as an associate of BP Wadia and organized the first trade unions in southern India.
In 1920, Thiru. Vi. Ka. started a new Tamil weekly magazine called Navasakthi, which would be the vehicle for his thoughts for much of the rest of his life. He sought to make his magazine a beacon for the Tamil people, and his writings reflected his political and philosophical views. He published one of the first Tamil interpretations of the thought of Mahatma Gandhi, which is still regarded as an important milestone in Gandhian studies. His works are today seen as having given a new energy to the Tamil language and regarded as part of the foundations on which the modern Tamil prose style has been built.
Through this period, Thiru. Vi. Ka. remained active in politics and the Indian independence struggle. He was considered one of the three pillars of the Indian National Congress in Tamil Nadu and even became the President of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee in 1926. He spent much time touring Tamil Nadu, making speeches on the need for independence. He remained active well into his sixties and did not retire from politics until Indian independence in 1947. He passed away on September 17, 1953, in Royapettah, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.
Thiru V. Kalyanasundaram
(1883 – 1953) – (Tamilnadu)
Thiruvarur Viruttachala Kalyanasundaram (Aged 70) also known as Thiru. Vi. Ka., was born on August 26, 1883, in Thandalam, Kancheepuram district, Tamil Nadu, India. He was a Tamil scholar, essayist, and activist who is renowned for the humanism in his essays, the analytical depth of his commentaries on classical Tamil literature and philosophy, and the clear, fluid style of his prose. Along with V.O. Chidambaram Pillai, Maraimalai Adigal, and Arumuga Navalar, his works are considered to have defined the style of modern Tamil prose.
Thiru. Vi. Ka. attended the Wesley College High School and studied Tamil under Maraimalai Adigal and N. Kathiravel Pillai of Jaffna. He briefly worked as a teacher and became an editorial assistant on Desabaktan, a nationalist, Tamil daily newspaper in 1917. Thiru. Vi. Ka. was soon involved in various aspects of the independence movement and became a strong campaigner for worker rights. In 1918, he became active in the trade union movement as an associate of BP Wadia and organized the first trade unions in southern India.
In 1920, Thiru. Vi. Ka. started a new Tamil weekly magazine called Navasakthi, which would be the vehicle for his thoughts for much of the rest of his life. He sought to make his magazine a beacon for the Tamil people, and his writings reflected his political and philosophical views. He published one of the first Tamil interpretations of the thought of Mahatma Gandhi, which is still regarded as an important milestone in Gandhian studies. His works are today seen as having given a new energy to the Tamil language and regarded as part of the foundations on which the modern Tamil prose style has been built.
Through this period, Thiru. Vi. Ka. remained active in politics and the Indian independence struggle. He was considered one of the three pillars of the Indian National Congress in Tamil Nadu and even became the President of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee in 1926. He spent much time touring Tamil Nadu, making speeches on the need for independence. He remained active well into his sixties and did not retire from politics until Indian independence in 1947. He passed away on September 17, 1953, in Royapettah, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.
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