S. R. Ramaswamy

S. R. Ramaswamy
Dr S. R. Ramaswamy, D. Litt
Born	(1937-10-29) 29 October 1937 (age 79) Bangalore, British India
Nationality	Indian
Fields	Journalism, literature, criticism, editing, environmental conservation
Institutions	William Quan Judge Press – Bangalore, "Sudha" Magazine, "Rashrothana Sahitya", "Utthana" – Kannada monthly
Alma mater	The National College, Bangalore
Known for	"Shatamanada Tiruvinalli Bharata" (1989), "Svetoslav Roerich" a collective (1974), "Kolminchu" (1996), "Deevitgegalu" (1998), "Kargil Kampana" (1999)
Notable awards	"Kannada Sahitya Akademi Award" (1992), "Aryabhata Award" (2006), "Kannada Rajyotsava Award" (2008), "Honorary Doctorate (D. Litt)" (2011)
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Sondekoppa Ramachandrasastri Ramaswamy is an Indian writer, journalist, biographer, social activist and environmentalist. He has authored more than 50 books and thousand articles both in Kannada and English. He is recipient of the "Karnataka State Sahitya Akademi Award" (1992) for year's best work in social science. In 2015, he was honoured by Hampi University, Karnataka with the 'Nadoja' award. An avid campaigner for environmental issues and people's rights, he has led numerous movements both at state and national level for conservation of vast tracts of rich flora and fauna from ill-planned Government policies. His years as a writer and chronicler brought him under the influence of doyens of literature and public life such as D. V. Gundappa, V. Sitaramayya, Rallapalli Ananta Krishna Sharma, Yadava Rao Joshi and P Kodanda Rao. His writings essentially mirror the literary, cultural, nationalist and developmental problems that are contemporaneous to the present day scenario. S. R. Ramaswamy is currently the honorary Editor-in-Chief of Kannada monthly "Utthana" and "Rashrothana Sahitya" at Bangalore.

S. R. Ramaswamy was born to Mulukanadu Brahmin parents S. Ramachandra Sastri and Sarasvatamma on 29 October 1937 at Bangalore. He comes from a scholarly lineage and is the nephew of the historian and polyglot S. Srikanta Sastri as well as Asthan Vidwan Motaganahalli Subramanya Sastri who was editor of "Ranga Bhoomi" and is credited with "Karnata Malavikagnimitra" & translation of Valmiki's Ramayana from Sanskrit to Kannada. He is the great grand-nephew of Maha Asthan Vidwan Motaganahalli Ramshesha Sastri who was the first person to translate Bhagavata from original Sanskrit to Kannada and Asthan Vidwan Motaganahalli Shankara Sastri who is credited with the composition of "Vedanta Panchadarshi", a work extensively quoted by D. V. Gundappa. Ramaswamy's ancestor Yagnapathi Bhatta or Yagnam Bhatta was a court poet in the court of Immadi Kempegowda. Ramaswamy's older brother is the journalist S. R. Krishnamurthy.