Hridayakumari

Hridayakumari (1930 – 8 November 2014) was an Indian writer, educator, scholar, translator, and orator. She wrote primarily in the Malayalam language, and in 1991, was awarded the Kerala Sahitya Academy Award for her book, Kalpanikatha. Hridayakumari taught English at several colleges in the state of Kerala during a forty-year career, eventually retiring as the principal of Government College for Women in Thiruvananthapuram in 1986. She had also taught previously at the University College, Thiruvananthapuram; at Maharajas College, Ernakulam;at Brennen College, Thalassery and Victoria College, Palakkad. She won several awards, including the S Guptan Nair award, the Captain Lakshmi Award, and the Shankaranarayanan Thampi award. Following her retirement, Hridayakumari gave public lectures on literature, poetry, and philosophy. She also and served on several government committees that dealt with educational reforms in Kerala, and was the chair of a committee that was created by the Kerala State Higher Education Council to reform college credits and semester structures.