imported>MarceloCoode04 at 23:55, 30 April 2026

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{{Short description|Indian translator (1949–2025)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = K. K. Gangadharan
| image =
| imagesize =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1949|03|10}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=ಕೆ.ಕೆ. ಗಂಗಾಧರನ್ |url=https://www.bookbrahma.com/author/k-k-gangadharan |access-date=26 January 2025 |website=www.bookbrahma.com |language=en}}</ref>
| birth_place = Pathanadukka, [[Madras State]], [[Dominion of India]]
| death_place = [[Bengaluru]], Karnataka
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2025|01|19|1949|03|10}}
| nationality = Indian
| alma_mater = [[University of Mysore]]
| occupation = Translator
| movement =
| notable_works =
| spouse = Radha
| children = 1
| awards = [[Sahitya Akademi Translation Prize]]
| influences =
| signature =
}}'''K. K. Gangadharan''' (10 March 1949 – 19 January 2025) was a Malayalam-Kannada translator from [[Kerala]], India. He has translated the works of many [[Malayalam]] writers into [[Kannada]] and has translated 235 of [[Madhavikutty]]'s 243 stories into Kannada. In 2024, he received the [[Sahitya Akademi Translation Prize]] for Kannada.

==Biography==
K. K. Gangadharan was born on 10 March 1949, in Pathanadukka in present-day [[Kasaragod district]] of [[Kerala]].<ref name="Mat2">{{Cite web |date=11 March 2024 |title=കെ.കെ. ഗംഗാധരൻ: മലയാളകഥകൾക്ക് കന്നഡ മൊഴിനൽകിയ വിവർത്തകൻ |url=https://newspaper.mathrubhumi.com/pravasi/bangalore/bangalore-1.9398159 |access-date=22 January 2025 |website=Newspaper |language=en}}</ref> Kasaragod district was not formed at that time. When he was still a child, his family migrated to the village of Kabbinasetuve in [[Kodagu district]].<ref name="citizenmatters">{{Cite web |last=Narasimhachar |first=Sudha |date=7 July 2010 |title=Keeping original essence, message and local aroma intact |url=https://citizenmatters.in/2165-kannada-malayali-translator-k-k-gangadharan/ |access-date=22 January 2025 |website=Citizen Matters |language=en-US |archive-date=15 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240715154858/https://citizenmatters.in/2165-kannada-malayali-translator-k-k-gangadharan/ |url-status=live }}</ref> He received his education at a Kannada medium school in [[Somwarpet]], [[Kodagu district|Kodagu]].<ref name="Mat2"/> After his primary education in Kajur and Somwarpet, he obtained his B.Sc. degree from Vivekananda College, Puttur, under the [[University of Mysore]].<ref name="Mathrubhumi"/><ref>{{Cite web |last=santosh.naik |title=ಕೆಕೆ ಗಂಗಾಧರನ್‌, ನಾಗರತ್ನ ಹೆಗಡೆಗೆ ಭಾಷಾಂತರ ವಿಭಾಗದ ಕೇಂದ್ರ ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯ ಅಕಾಡೆಮಿ ಪ್ರಶಸ್ತಿ |url=https://kannada.asianetnews.com/state/k-k-gangadharan-nagaratna-hegde-won-kendra-sahitya-akademi-award-for-translation-san-sa6u3c |access-date=22 January 2025 |website=Asianet Suvarna News |language=kn}}</ref>

Gangadharan, who worked as an extra-departmental staff member in the [[Indian postal department]] for a short period, served at Kothari Coffee Curing Works in [[Hassan, Karnataka|Hassan]] from 1970 to 1973.<ref name="citizenmatters"/> He joined the Railway Mail Service in 1974 and retired from there in 2009.<ref name="citizenmatters"/> Working in various places in Karnataka as a Railway Mail Service officer increased his connection with the Kannada language.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=ലേഖകൻ |first=മാധ്യമം |date=20 January 2025 |title=കെ.കെ.ജി: നിശ്ശബ്ദനായ സാഹിത്യ സേവകൻ |url=https://www.madhyamam.com/metro/translator-kk-gangadharan-passed-away-1371678 |access-date=22 January 2025 |website=www.madhyamam.com |language=ml |archive-date=21 January 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250121040447/https://www.madhyamam.com/metro/translator-kk-gangadharan-passed-away-1371678 |url-status=live }}</ref> He has also served as a postal employees' union representative, while in the RMS service.<ref name=":0" />

Gangadharan died on 19 January 2025, in Bengaluru, while undergoing treatment at M.S. Ramaiah Hospital in Bengaluru.<ref name="madhyamam">{{cite news |last1=ലേഖകൻ |first1=മാധ്യമം |title=വിവർത്തകൻ കെ.കെ. ഗംഗാധരൻ ബംഗളൂരുവിൽ അന്തരിച്ചു {{!}} K.K. Gangadharan passes away in Bengaluru {{!}} Madhyamam |url=https://www.madhyamam.com/metro/kk-gangadharan-passes-away-in-bengaluru-1371531 |work=www.madhyamam.com |agency=[[Madhyamam]] |date=19 January 2025 |language=ml |archive-date=20 January 2025 |access-date=22 January 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250120035757/https://www.madhyamam.com/metro/kk-gangadharan-passes-away-in-bengaluru-1371531 |url-status=live }}</ref> He had been on treatment for liver and kidney disease for some time.<ref name="madhyamam"/>

===Personal life===
Gangadharan and his wife Radha have a son named Sarath Kumar.<ref name="madhyamam"/> They lived on Magadi Road in Bengaluru, since 1979.<ref name="madhyamam"/>

==Literary career==
His first Kannada article was published in a local newspaper, 'Shakti', when he was about 19 years old.<ref name="citizenmatters"/> But it was on a local issue.

Gangadharan began his literary career by writing a few stories and poems in Kannada under the guidance of Amruth Someswaran, a former professor at Vivekananda College.<ref name="citizenmatters"/> In 1978, he entered the field of translation by translating the series of articles by [[E. M. S. Namboodiripad]] titled ''E.M.S. Namboodiripadinte Chodyotharangal'' in the Odanadi magazine published from [[Mysore]].<ref name=":0" /> It was published for eight consecutive months.<ref name="Mat2"/>

Gangadharan has translated many works by famous Malayalam writers into Kannada. The most important of these are the stories of [[Madhavikutty]]. He translated 235 of Madhavikutty's 243 stories into Kannada.<ref name="Mathrubhumi">{{cite news |title=മാധവിക്കുട്ടിയെ കന്നഡിഗർക്ക് പരിചയപ്പെടുത്തിയ മലയാളി വിവർത്തകൻ, കെ.കെ. ഗംഗാധരൻ വിടപറയുമ്പോൾ |url=https://www.mathrubhumi.com/literature/news/kk-gangadharan-translator-malayalam-literature-into-kannada-passed-away-1.10269818 |work=[[Mathrubhumi]] |date=20 January 2025 |language=en |archive-date=21 January 2025 |access-date=22 January 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250121122351/https://www.mathrubhumi.com/literature/news/kk-gangadharan-translator-malayalam-literature-into-kannada-passed-away-1.10269818 |url-status=live }}</ref> This was published in five books. His love for Madhavikutty's stories and the interest in them among Kannada readers motivated him to translate so many of her stories.

Gangadharan also translated stories by prominent Malayalam writers such as [[Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai]], [[Vaikom Muhammad Basheer]], [[M. T. Vasudevan Nair]], [[T. Padmanabhan]], [[Punathil Kunjabdulla]], [[Malayattoor Ramakrishnan]], [[U. K. Kumaran]], etc.<ref name="Mathrubhumi"/> Novels by Ettumanoor Sivakumar and Mezhuveli Babuji have also been translated.<ref name="Mathrubhumi"/> He also translated the biography of Kerala politician [[E. K. Nayanar]] and the autobiography of actress [[Shakeela]] into Kannada.<ref name="Mathrubhumi"/>

The book ''Malayalam Kathegalu'' (translation:Malayalam Stories), for which he received the Sahitya Akademi Award for Translation, is the translation of stories by 25 Malayalam writers including Thakazhi, Basheer, M. T., T. Padmanabhan, Malayattoor Ramakrishnan, Punathil Kunjabdulla, U. K. Kumaran, [[Santhosh Aechikkanam]], and [[Benyamin (writer)|Benyamin]].<ref name="Mathrubhumi"/> It was published by the Government of Karnataka's Kuvempu Bhasha Bharathi Pradhikara in 2019.<ref name="Mathrubhumi"/>

He also translated stories for Kannada publications. Punathil's ''Panchaliyude lokam'' was translated and published in the Kannada magazine Mallike.<ref name="Mathrubhumi"/> Translated stories by Malayalam writers have also been published in Kannada publications such as Tharanga, Mayura, Sudha and Thushara.<ref name="Mathrubhumi"/>

Some of the stories translated by Gangadharan have become part of textbooks in Kerala and Karnataka. His translation of Basheer's ''Janmandinagal'' was included in the Kannada textbook of [[Bengaluru University]] and his translation of Madhavikutty's ''Swathantrya Samara Senaniyute Makal'' was included in the syllabus of B.A. in [[Karnataka State Women's University|Akka Mahadevi Karnataka State Women's University]], Vijayapura.<ref>{{Cite web |date=21 December 2019 |title=Keralite translates 175 stories by Madhavikutty into Kannada |url=https://englisharchives.mathrubhumi.com/books/books-news/keralite-translates-175-stories-by-madhavikutty-into-kannada-1.4380588 |access-date=22 January 2025 |website=English Archives |language=en |archive-date=24 January 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250124114512/https://englisharchives.mathrubhumi.com/books/books-news/keralite-translates-175-stories-by-madhavikutty-into-kannada-1.4380588 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Mathrubhumi"/> The translation of Prabhakaran Pazhassi's story ''Bharameriya Pezhs'' is included in the Kannada medium ninth class textbook of Kerala.<ref name="Mathrubhumi"/>

==Awards and honors==
Gangadharan received the Government of Karnataka's Kuvempu Bhasha Bharathi Pradhikara Award in 2010 and 2017.<ref name="Mathrubhumi"/> In March 2024, he received the [[Sahitya Akademi Translation Prize]] for Kannada.<ref name="Mathrubhumi"/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gangadharan, K. K.}}
[[Category:Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Kannada]]
[[Category:Kannada-language writers]]
[[Category:Translators to Kannada]]
[[Category:1949 births]]
[[Category:2025 deaths]]
[[Category:University of Mysore alumni]]

K. K. Gangadharan - Revision history

imported>MarceloCoode04 at 23:55, 30 April 2026