TAMIL NADU: Tamil scholar Avvai Natarajan (85) passed away today at a hospital in Chennai due to ill health and old age. Literary writers and Tamil writers are deeply saddened by the demise of Tamil scholar Avvai Natarajan.
Avvai Natarajan, the most prominent figure in the world of Tamil literature, was born on April 24, 1936 in Seiyaru village in Tiruvannamalai district. His parents are Olavai Duraisamy - Lokampal.
A multifaceted educationist as a Tamil scholar, thinker and orator, he obtained his master's degree in Tamil from Thyagaraja College, Madurai. Later, he studied at Pachaiyappan College, Chennai on the topic of Nomenclature in Sanga literature and obtained his Master of Science degree in 1958. Later, he got his PhD by researching on the topic of Sanga period scholarship. He has won the country's highest award, the Padma Shri.
Avvai Natarasan, who was a scholar of Tamil language, has worked as a Tamil lecturer in Thiagarajar College, Madurai and Mannar Saraboji Government College, Thanjavur. He has also worked as a newsreader and announcer at All India Radio station in Delhi.
Impressed by his talent, the then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, MGR, appointed Avvai Natarajan as the Deputy Director of the Press and Public Relations Department of the Tamil Nadu Government. Avvai Natarajan, who was in that position for about 9 years, later served as the Secretary of the Tamil Development and Culture Department of the Tamil Nadu Government from 1984 to 1992.
IAS Avvai Natarajan is the only person who served as Secretary to Tamil Nadu Government without being an official. Later, from 1992 to 1995, he served as the Vice-Chancellor of Tanjore Tamil University. In the year 2014, he has held the responsibility of the Vice-Chairman of the Central Institute of Classical Tamil Studies.
Various texts from the speeches of the great orator Avvai Natarajan have been published as books. He has been honored with Padma Shri, the country's highest award, in recognition of his services to the Tamil language. Tamil scholars and writers are saddened by his demise.
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