Orthodhaval at 09:52, 31 December 2025

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{{Short description|Indian writer (1938–2019)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2020}}
{{infobox person
|name = Daniel Selvaraj
|birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1938|1|14}}
|birth_place = [[Thenkalam]], Thirunelveli district, Tamilnadu
|death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2019|12|20|1938|1|14}}
|death_place =
|spouse = Bharathaputhri
|occupation = lawyer, writer
|image = D.Selvaraj Portrait.jpg
|children = Siddharthan,<br>Sevagan,<br>Veda Gnanalakshmi
}}
'''D. Selvaraj''' (14 January 1938 – 20 December 2019) was an Indian writer who wrote novels, short stories, and plays in the [[Tamil language]]. A lawyer by profession, he was involved in various [[Communist]] and left-leaning writers' organisations such as the Democratic Writers Association of India and the Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers Association (TNPWA), of which he was an executive committee member. He received the Tamil Nadu Government's literary award for the best novel of 2011 for his work on tannery workers of Southern Tamil Nadu titled ''Thol''. He did the field work for Thol for a decade before writing it. The novel was awarded the [[List of Sahitya Akademi Award winners for Tamil|Sahitya Akademi award for Tamil]] in 2012.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sahitya-akademi.gov.in/ECDDA8C5-599F-4414-AC25-1E019964D678/FinalDownload/DownloadId-0A4321F7FB125262A6118E720286A846/ECDDA8C5-599F-4414-AC25-1E019964D678/sahitya-akademi/pdf/sa-award2012.pdf|title=Sahitya Akademi award announcement|accessdate=21 December 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2012/dec/20/satchidanandan-thayil-among-24-sahitya-akademi-awardees-435642.html|title=Satchidanandan, Thayil among 24 Sahitya Akademi awardees|date=20 December 2012|newspaper=The New Indian Express|agency=IANS|accessdate=1 August 2020}}</ref>

==Biography==
Selvaraj was born to Daniel and Gnanam Ammal in 1938 in [[Thenkalam]], [[Tirunelveli| Tirunelveli district]], [[Tamil Nadu]], India.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/skin-deep/article5048748.ece|title=Skin deep|first=S. S.|last=Kavitha|newspaper=The Hindu |date=22 August 2013|accessdate=21 December 2019|via=www.thehindu.com}}</ref> His parents were plantation labourers who worked in the tea plantations in Munnar at the [[Kerala]]- Tamil Nadu border. He obtained his B.A. degree in Tirunelveli (1959) Hindu College and his law degree in [[Madras]] (1962) Madras Law college. His early inspiration came from Maupassant short stories, Dickens and Thomas Hardy's novels. His Principal in Hindu college Professor Alexandar Gnanamuthu introduced him to Shakespeare and Selvaraj was hooked on good literature for his life. He published his first short story in ''Janasakthi''daily's weekly magazine, the official magazine of [[Communist Party of India]] (CPI). During 1957-58, he also published regularly in the progressive literary magazine ''Shanthi'' run by [[T. M. Chidambara Ragunathan]], along with Sundara Ramaswamy he was a regular contributor to "Shanthi". As a writer he was influenced by the Communist ideals of [[P. Jeevanandham]] and became a member of the TNPWA. His short stories and novels appeared regularly in literary magazines like ''Neethi'', ''Semmalar'', ''Kannadasan'' and ''Thamarai''. His first noted work was the novel ''Malarum Sarugum'' (1967) written on the background of the peasant agitation in the Tirunelveli district. It is considered to be the first Dalit novel written in Tamil. He followed it with ''Thaeneer'' (1973) which was about the plight of the tea plantation workers. He wrote a number of plays, the most notable of which are ''yugasangamam'' (1968) and "Paatu Mudiyum Munnae". ''Yugasangamam'' was awarded the best play award by Tamil Nadu Government's literary association and is currently a part of the curriculum at the Tamil studies department, [[Delhi University]]. "Paatu Mudiyum Munnae" was staged all over Tamil Nadu by T.K. Balachander troupe and lyrics for the play were penned by Paatukkottai Kalayanasundaram - which led to a close relationship with this legendary poet. He sharpened his writing skills with constant criticism and guidance from Tho.Mu.Si. Raghunathan/ Thi.Ka.Sivasankaran/ Jeevanandam. In fact when Jeevanandam was the editor of "Thamarai" D.S. was the one editing the magazine behind the scenes. He spent years and years researching his novels before sitting down to pen them. His "Thol" novel is an apt example of that effort. He spent 10 years researching the novel in Dindigul tanneries and erstwhile workers in tanneries before writing it down. "Thol" was awarded the Tamil Nadu Government Award for the best novel of 2009 and the novel has been given the honour by Sahitya Akademi in 2012. He lived his last years in [[Dindigul]]. He was married to Bharathaputri and had three children (Siddharthan Prabhu, Sarvagan Prabhu, Veda gnana lakshmi all 3 married) . He happily shared his time between writing, his advocate practice and playing with his 5 grand children.<ref name="hindu1">{{cite news | last= Viswanathan| first= S.| title= Writing for a cause | date=11 August 2007| url =http://www.hindu.com/fline/fl2416/stories/20070824506012000.htm| work =[[The Hindu]]| accessdate = 2010-01-28}}</ref><ref name="hindu2">{{cite news| last= Viswanathan| first= S.| title= A trailblazer: T.M. Chidambara Ragunathan, 1923-2001.| date= 22 February 2002| url= http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl1903/19031010.htm| work= [[The Hindu]]| accessdate= 2010-01-28| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110606104223/http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl1903/19031010.htm| archive-date= 6 June 2011| url-status= usurped}}</ref><ref name="thenral">{{cite news|last=Madhusudhanan |first=The |title=D. Selvaraj profile |url=http://www.tamilonline.com/thendral/print.aspx?id=102&cid=18&aid=1474 |work=www.tamilonline.com |accessdate=2010-01-28 |language=ta |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716191644/http://www.tamilonline.com/thendral/print.aspx?id=102&cid=18&aid=1474 |archive-date=2011-07-16 }}</ref><ref name="noolakam1">{{cite news | last= Kailasapathy| first=S. | title=Essays on Tamilology| url =http://www.noolaham.net/project/04/350/350.htm| work =www.noolaham.net| accessdate = 2010-01-28|language=ta}}</ref><ref name="noolakam2">{{cite news | last= Ponnuthurai| first=S. | title=Review of "Vee"| url =http://www.noolaham.net/project/01/64/64.htm| work =www.noolaham.net| accessdate = 2010-01-28|language=ta}}</ref><ref name="tamilvu">{{cite news | title=Dalits in today's literature| url =http://www.tamilvu.org/courses/diploma/d071/d0714/html/d0714552.htm| work =Tamil Virtual University| accessdate = 2010-01-28|language=ta}}</ref><ref name="authors">{{cite news | title=D. Selvaraj profile at Tamilauthors.com| url =http://www.tamilauthors.com/writers/india/T.Selvaraj.html| work =www.tamilauthors.com| accessdate = 2010-01-28|language=ta}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl3001/stories/20130125300109300.htm |title='Socialist realism is still relevant' |access-date=2013-03-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130205072648/http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl3001/stories/20130125300109300.htm |archive-date=2013-02-05 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Bibliography==
* ''Malarum charugum'' (Novel) (Malligai, 1967)
* ''Theneer'' (Novel) (New Century book house, 1973)
* ''Moolathanam'' (Novel) (1977)
* ''Agnikundam'' (Novel) (1980)
* ''Yugasangamam'' (Play) (1968)
* ''Jeeva'' - Biography of P Jeevanandham (Sahitya Akademi, 2005)
* ''Saamichidambaranaar'' - Biography of Tamil writers (Sahitya Akademi, 2006).
* ''Pradosham'' (Varam:Chennai, 2007)
* ''Thole'' (2010) - Awarded best novel of the year by the Tamil Nadu Government - Presented by the Hon Chief Minister Dr. J. Jayalalitha on 13 April 2012

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Sahitya Akademi Award For Tamil}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Selvaraj, Daniel}}
[[Category:2019 deaths]]
[[Category:1938 births]]
[[Category:Indian Tamil writers]]
[[Category:People from Tirunelveli district]]
[[Category:Tamil-language writers]]
[[Category:Novelists from Tamil Nadu]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Tamil]]
[[Category:Indian communist writers]]
[[Category:Indian lawyers]]

Daniel Selvaraj - Revision history

Orthodhaval at 09:52, 31 December 2025