U.R. Ananthamurthy
| U. R. Ananthamurthy | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
21 December 1932 Melige, Tirthahalli taluk, Shimoga District, Kingdom of Mysore, British India |
| Died | 22 August 2014 (aged 81) Bangalore, Karnataka, India |
| Occupation | Professor, writer |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Alma mater | University of Birmingham |
| Genre | Fiction, literary criticism |
| Literary movement | Navya |
Udupi Rajagopalacharya Ananthamurthy (21 December 1932 – 22 August 2014) was a contemporary writer and critic in the Kannada language born in Thirtahalli Taluk and is considered as one of the pioneers of the Navya movement. He is the sixth writer to be honored with the Jnanpith Award for the Kannada language, the highest literary honour conferred in India. In 1998, he received the Padma Bhushan award from the Government of India. He was the vice-chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi University in Kerala during the late 1980s. He was one of the finalists of Man Booker International Prize for the year 2013. He remained a fervent critic of nationalistic political parties until his death from renal failure and cardiac arrest on 22 August 2014.
Ananthamurthy was born in Melige, in Tirthahalli taluk in the Shimoga District. His education started in a traditional Sanskrit school in Doorvasapura and continued in Tirthahalli and Mysore. After receiving a Master of Arts degree from the University of Mysore, U. R. Ananthamurthy taught in the English department at University of Mysore (pictured) for a while before embarking to England for further studies on a Commonwealth Scholarship. He earned his doctorate from the University of Birmingham in 1966 for his dissertation thesis entitled "Politics and Fiction in the 1930s".
Ananthamurthy started his career as a professor and instructor in 1970 in English department of University of Mysore. He was the Vice-Chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi University in Kottayam, Kerala from 1987 to 1991. He served as the Chairman of National Book Trust India for the year 1992. In 1993 he was elected as the president of Sahitya Academy. He served as a visiting professor in many renowned Indian and foreign universities including Jawaharlal Nehru University, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, University of Iowa, Tufts University and Shivaji University. Ananthamurthy served twice as the Chairman of the Film and Television Institute of India. In 2012 he was appointed the first Chancellor of Central University of Karnataka.
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