Laxmanshastri Balaji Joshi

Tarkateertha Lakshman Shastri Joshi (27 January 1901 – 27 May 1994) was an Indian scholar, of Sanskrit, Hindu Dharma, and a Marathi literary critic, and supporter of Indian independence. Mahatma Gandhi chose him to be his principal advisor in his campaign against untouchability. Joshi was the first recipient of Sahitya Akademi Award in year 1955. He was also awarded with two of the India's highest civilian honours Padma Bhushan in 1973 and Padma Vibhushan in 1992 Lakshman Shastri was born in a Marathi Deshastha Brahmin family in 1901 to Balaji and Chandrabhaga Joshi, in the village of Pimpalner, tahsil sakri, Dhule district in the present-day state of Maharashtra. He left home at age 14 after studying to be a priest. He finally settled in Wai, a historic temple town on the banks of the Krishna river. In Wai, he studied Sanskrit, Hindu dharma and Indian philosophy at the Pradnya pathshala, a renowned Vedic school. Later in 1923 he earned the degree "Tarkateertha", or literally, "Master of logic" at the Government Sanskrit Mahavidyalaya of Calcutta. In 1927, he married Satyawati Mulherkar. They had two sons and two daughters. Their elder son, Madhukar had a distinguished career at IBM in research and management.