K. N. Ezhuthachan

Kudiyirikkal Narayanan Ezhuthachan (21 May 1911 – 28 October 1981), commonly known as Dr.K.N.Ezhuthachan was an Indian writer and scholar of Malayalam literature. He was one among the principal followers of the idea of social impact on literature. Ezhuthachan supported Marxist literary criticism and interpreted Indian literary works based on Marxist aesthetics. He won the Sahitya Akademi Award for his work Keralodayam, a long narrative poem written in Sanskrit. He is the first Malayali to win Sahitya Akademi Award in sanskrit literature. He died on 28 October 1981 while delivering a lecture at Calicut University. K. N. Ezhuthachan was born in the village Cherpulassery in Palakkad district, Kerala, as the son of eye specialist and Sanskrit scholar Kudiyirikkal Krishnan Ezhuthachan and Lakshmi amma on 21 May 1911. He studied basics of Sanskrit from father's Sanskrit school. After passing the Vidwan examination Ezhuthachan began his career as a teacher and taught at two schools. He also worked as a clerk and stenographer in Bombay for a brief period. Later, he took his master's degrees in Malayalam, Sanskrit, and English. Besides he learned languages like Hindi, Tamil, Kannada and Marathi. In 1953, he joined Madras University as Lecturer and simultaneously worked for his PhD in the same university. After completing his PhD on Bhashakautaleeyam, Ezhuthachan joined University of Calicut as a Lecturer. He also served as a Senior Research Officer at Kerala State Institute of Languages, Research Fellow of Dravidian Linguistics Association and Visiting Professor at University of Calicut. K. N. Ezhuthachan had worked for the formation of institutions like Thaaliyola grantha library: a library for old Palm-leaf manuscript, Which was established in 1971 under Malayalam Departement of the University of Calicut. And Vallathol educational trust, A trust formed in 1977 in memory of Vallathol Narayana Menon.