Renowned poet and activist Sugathakumari passed away on Wednesday, days after testing positive for the coronavirus. The 86-year-old  poet was very critical and not responding to medication. She was admitted to the Government Medical College in Thiruvananthapuram and passed away at 10.52 am on Wednesday. Doctors said she was suffering from bronchopneumonia, a condition that causes inflammation in the air sacs in the lungs.

Sugathakumari was an influential voice in the field of Malayalam literature with her works garnering all the major awards on offer in the country. She was a recipient of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi award, Kendra Sahitya Akademi award, Odakkuzhal award, Ezhuthachan award among others.

She was born to freedom fighter Bodheswaran, whose real name was Keshava Pillai, and Sanskrit scholar VK Karthyayini Amma on January 22, 1934. Literary critic and writer Dr K Velayudhan Nair, who passed away in 2003, was her husband. They have a daughter.

She completed her education from Kerala University and Thiruvananthapuram University College, earning a postgraduate degree in philosophy in 1955. Inspired by her father who was a Gandhian thinker, Sugathakumari made her entry into social activism and was at the vanguard of the Save Silent Valley agitation which had garnered national attention in the 90s. Her poem ‘silent valley’ reflected her close relationship with nature.

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