Majokthefirst at 12:56, 23 July 2024

2024-07-23T12:56:37Z

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{{Short description|Indian writer, educator, and translator}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2023}}
{{Use Indian English|date=March 2023}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Hridayakumari
| image =
| imagesize =
| caption =
| birth_name = Hridayakumari
| birth_date = 1930
| birth_place = [[Aranmula]] (present [[Kerala]]), India
| death_date = 8 November 2014
| death_place =
| resting_place =
| occupation = {{hlist|Writer|educator|translator}}
| language = [[Malayalam]]
| education =
| alma_mater =
| genre =
| period =
| notableworks = Kalpanikatha
| spouse =
| children =
| signature =
| signature_alt =
| website =
| parents = [[Bodheswaran]] (father)
| awards = [[Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award]]
}}
'''Hridayakumari''' (1930 – 8 November 2014) was an Indian writer, educator, scholar, translator, and orator. She wrote primarily in the [[Malayalam]] language, and in 1991, was awarded the [[Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award|Kerala Sahitya Academy Award]] for her book, ''Kalpanikatha''.

== Career ==
Hridayakumari taught English at several colleges in the state of Kerala during a forty-year career, eventually retiring as the principal of Government College for Women in Thiruvananthapuram in 1986.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=TNN|date=9 November 2014|title=Writer, critic and noted educationist Hridayakumari dead {{!}} Thiruvananthapuram News - Times of India|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/thiruvananthapuram/writer-critic-and-noted-educationist-hridayakumari-dead/articleshow/45086642.cms|access-date=2022-02-26|website=The Times of India|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite news|agency=Press Trust of India|date=2014-11-08|title=Writer Hridayakumari passes away|work=Business Standard India|url=https://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/writer-hridayakumari-passes-away-114110800364_1.html|access-date=2022-02-26}}</ref> She had also taught previously at the University College, Thiruvananthapuram; at Maharajas College, Ernakulam;at Brennen College, Thalassery and Victoria College, Palakkad.<ref name=":0" /> She won several awards, including the [[S. Guptan Nair|S Guptan Nair]] award, the Captain Lakshmi Award, and the [[R. Sankara Narayanan Thampi|Shankaranarayanan Thampi]] award.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|last=Trivandrum)|first=T. K. Devasia (Reporting from|title=Noted writer Hridayakumari passes away|url=https://www.khaleejtimes.com/world/noted-writer-hridayakumari-passes-away|access-date=2022-02-26|website=Khaleej Times|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web|title=Tearful Adieu to Doyenne of Teaching|url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/2014/nov/09/tearful-adieu-to-doyenne-of-teaching-680362.html|access-date=2022-02-26|website=The New Indian Express}}</ref>

Following her retirement, Hridayakumari gave public lectures on literature, poetry, and philosophy.<ref name=":1" /> She also and served on several government committees that dealt with educational reforms in Kerala, and was the chair of a committee that was created by the Kerala State Higher Education Council to reform college credits and semester structures.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=Noted Malayalam Writer B. Hridayakumari Dead|url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/2014/nov/08/noted-malayalam-writer-b.-hridayakumari-dead-680161.html|access-date=2022-02-26|website=The New Indian Express}}</ref>

She also wrote two books. ''Kalpanikatha'' is a study of [[romanticism]] in literature, comparing English and Malayalam poets, such as [[William Wordsworth]], [[John Keats]], [[Percy Bysshe Shelley]], and [[Kumaran Asan|Kumaranasan]], [[Changampuzha Krishna Pillai]] and [[Edappally Raghavan Pillai]].<ref name=":0" /> In 1991, ''Kalpanikatha'' won the [[Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award]].<ref name=":0" /> She later published an autobiography, ''Ormakalile Vasanthakalam'', which detailed her experiences as a teacher.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":4">{{Cite web|date=2020-12-24|title=Three sisters and four Akademi awards: Sugathakumari and her writer siblings|url=https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/three-sisters-and-four-akademi-awards-sugathakumari-and-her-writer-siblings-140224|access-date=2022-02-26|website=The News Minute|language=en}}</ref>

Hridayakumari translated several works between Malayalam and English, including her sister, poet [[Sugathakumari]]'s poetry, as well as works by [[Vallathol Narayana Menon]] (from Malayalam to English) and by [[Rabindranath Tagore]] (from English to Malayalam).<ref name=":4" /> Hridayakumari also translated ''Rathrimazha,'' a Sahitya-Akademi award-winning novel by Sugathakumari, from Malayalam to English.<ref name=":4" />

== Personal life ==
[[File:Sugathakumari.jpg|thumb|[[Sugathakumari]] ]]
Hridayakumari was born to V. K. Karthyayani, a professor and scholar of Sanskrit, and Bodheswaran, a poet and Indian freedom fighter, in 1930, in [[Aranmula]].<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":2" /> Her sisters, [[Sugathakumari]] and [[B. Sujatha Devi|Sujatha Devi]] were also writers and social activists.<ref name=":1" /> Her daughter, Sreedevi Pillai, is a journalist.<ref name=":1" /> She died at the age of 84 on 8 November 2014.<ref name=":0" />

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1930 births]]
[[Category:2014 deaths]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian writers]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian women writers]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian translators]]
[[Category:Indian women academics]]
[[Category:Malayalam-language writers]]
[[Category:Writers from Kerala]]
[[Category:People from Aranmula]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award]]

Hridayakumari - Revision history

Majokthefirst at 12:56, 23 July 2024