VLSLester417456 at 23:40, 7 February 2026

2026-02-07T23:40:15Z

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{{short description|Indian Marxist thinker}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Kovai Gnani
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name = K. Pazhanisamy
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1935|07|01}}
| birth_place = Somannur, [[Coimbatore]], [[Madras Presidency]], [[British India]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2020|07|22|1935|07|01}}
| death_place = Coimbatore, [[Tamil Nadu]], India
| other_names =
| occupation = writer, literary critic, Marxist thinker
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
| spouse = Indrani
| children = 2
| parents = Krishnaswamy<br>Mariammal
| website = http://kovaignani.org/
}}
'''K. Pazhanisamy''' was a [[Tamil language]] writer, [[Marxism|Marxist]] thinker, literary critic and scholar from [[Tamil Nadu]], India, who wrote using the pen name '''Kovai Gnani'''. He introduced the Marxist ideology in [[Tamil literature]], in the early 1990s,<ref name="federal">{{Cite web|last=Vignessh|date=2020-07-22|title=Renowned Tamil scholar and Marxist ideologue Kovai Gnani dies|url=https://thefederal.com/states/south/tamil-nadu/renowned-tamil-scholar-and-marxist-ideologue-kovai-gnani-dies/|access-date=2022-02-06|website=The Federal|language=en-US}}</ref> and authored 28 books on literary criticism, five collections of essays, three collections of poetry, eleven anthologies and edited many books.<ref>{{Cite web|last=குருபிரசாத்,தி.விஜய்|title='தமிழ் மார்க்சியத்தைப் படைத்தவர்' - காலமானார் எழுத்தாளர் கோவை ஞானி|url=https://www.vikatan.com/news/tamilnadu/writer-kovai-gnani-passed-away-in-coimbatore|access-date=2022-02-06|website=www.vikatan.com|date=22 July 2020 |language=ta}}</ref>

He received several awards including Tamil Nadu government's best book award and Lifetime Achievement Award by [[The Tamil Literary Garden]].

==Biography==
Pazhanisamy was born in 1935, in Somannur in [[Coimbatore]], of Tamil Nadu, one of the eight children of Krishnaswamy and Mariammal.<ref name="Mathrubhumi">{{Cite web|title=കോവൈ ജ്ഞാനി വിടപറഞ്ഞത് തമിഴിന്റെ സർവവിജ്ഞാനകോശം|url=https://www.mathrubhumi.com/palakkad/news/article-1.4924036|access-date=2022-02-06|website=Mathrubhumi|language=en|archive-date=2020-07-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200724030949/https://www.mathrubhumi.com/palakkad/news/article-1.4924036|url-status=dead}}</ref> He graduated in [[Tamil literature]] from [[Annamalai University]] and worked as a Tamil teacher in a school in Coimbatore for 30 years.<ref name="Hindu">{{Cite news|date=2020-07-22|title=Marxist thinker and Tamil writer Kovai Gnani no more|language=en-IN|work=The Hindu|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Coimbatore/marxist-thinker-and-tamil-writer-kovai-gnani-no-more/article32165218.ece|access-date=2022-02-06|issn=0971-751X}}</ref> In 1988, at the age of 55, he lost his sight due to [[diabetes]], but that did not stop his quest for reading and writing.<ref name="TOI"/><ref name="Hindutamil"/>

As a Marxist thinker, or as a person moved towards Tamil nationalism, he did not associate with any political party or movement in India.<ref name="Hindu"/> He approached Marxism only as a philosophy.<ref name="Hindu"/> Gnani opposed classical Marxism, which approached culture only economically, and argued for the need for a Marxism suitable for India (''Mannukketra Marxism'') and explained it in his writings and speeches.<ref name="federal"/>

He was the mentor for many modern Tamil writers and poets.<ref name="TOI">{{Cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/coimbatore/tamil-writer-kovai-gnani-dies/articleshow/77105382.cms|title=Tamil writer Kovai Gnani dies |access-date=2022-02-06|date=July 22, 2016|first1=Vishnu|last1=Swaroop|website=[[The Times of India]]}}</ref> His contact with eminent Tamil scholars and his self-study, which continued for over 50 years, gave him an in-depth knowledge of ancient and modern Tamil literature. His involvement in Marxism and Tamil made him a critic of Tamil literature and contemporary Tamil society. He who made a significant role in founding the poetry movement ''Vaanampaadi'', which focuses discovering new poets, with writers like [[Sirpi Balasubramaniam]], Mehta and Bhuviyarash.<ref name="Mathrubhumi"/> As part of the Little Magazine Movement, he edited Tamil language little magazines like ''Puthia Thalaimurai'', '' Vanampadihe'' and ran magazines like ''Marxia Ayvithazh'', ''Parimanam'' and ''Nigazh''.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-07-22|title=Kovai Gnani, renowned Tamil writer and literary critic, passes away in Coimbatore at 85|url=https://www.firstpost.com/art-and-culture/kovai-gnani-renowned-tamil-writer-and-literary-critic-passes-away-in-coimbatore-at-85-8627531.html|access-date=2022-02-06|website=Firstpost|language=en}}</ref> His books are being used as a subject of study in the Tamil departments of various universities in India.<ref name="Mathrubhumi"/>

===Personal life and death===
Gnani and his wife Indrani had two sons.<ref name="Hindutamil"/> He died on 20 July 2020 at Coimbatore.

==Partial bibliography==
*{{Cite book|title=Akamum pur̲amum : Tamil̲nēyam ital̲iliruntu|date=1 January 2013|isbn=978-81-924508-7-2|edition=1|publisher=Puthupunal|location=Chennai|oclc=880374970}}
*''Puthiya Thalamurai'' (Meaning: Generation)<ref name="Mathrubhumi"/>
*''Marxiyam Periyariam'' (Meaning: Marxism and Periyarism)<ref name="federal"/>
*''Marxiamum Tamil Ilakkiyamum'' (Meaning: Marxism and Tamil Literature)<ref name="TOI"/>
*''Tamilil Naveenathuvam Pinnaveenathuvam'' (Meaning: Modernism and Postmodernism in Tamil)<ref name="TOI"/>
*''Tamil Ilakkiyam Indrum Iniyum'' (Meaning:bTamil Literature: Today and Hereafter)<ref name="TOI"/>
*''Kadavul Yen Innum Saagavillai?'' (Meaning: Why Isn't God Dead Yet?)<ref name="TOI"/>
*''Kallum Mullum Kavithaigalum'' (Meaning: Stones, Thorns and Poetry)<ref name="TOI"/>
*''Marxiya Azhakiyal'' (Meaning: Marxist aesthetics)<ref name="Hindutamil">{{Cite web|title=எழுத்தாளர் கோவை ஞானி காலமானார்|url=https://www.hindutamil.in/news/tamilnadu/565831-writer-kovai-gnani-passed-away.html|access-date=2022-02-06|website=Hindu Tamil Thisai|date=22 July 2020 |language=ta}}</ref>

==Awards and honors==
*Tamil Nadu government's best book award 2006 (Marxiyam Periyariam)<ref name="federal"/>
*Pudumaipithans Vilakku Viruthu 1998<ref name="Hindutamil"/>
*Parithimaar Kalaignar Award for the best Tamil scholar, by the [[SRM Institute of Science and Technology|SRM University]]<ref>{{Cite web|author=M. Ramya|date=Aug 2, 2013|title=SRM University to honour eleven Tamil scholars, writers {{!}} Chennai News - Times of India|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/srm-university-to-honour-eleven-tamil-scholars-writers/articleshow/21560161.cms|access-date=2022-02-06|website=The Times of India|language=en}}</ref>
*'Hindu Tamil Disai' Achievement Award 2019<ref name="Hindutamil"/>
*Lifetime Achievement Award (Iyal award) 2009 by [[The Tamil Literary Garden]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=Kovai Gnani, Iravatham Mahadevan honoured|url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil-nadu/2010/jul/05/kovai-gnani-iravatham-mahadevan-honoured-167215.html|access-date=2022-02-06|website=The New Indian Express|date=16 May 2012 }}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gnani, Kovai}}
[[Category:1935 births]]
[[Category:2020 deaths]]
[[Category:Marxist theorists]]
[[Category:Indian Marxist writers]]
[[Category:Indian Marxists]]
[[Category:Indian male writers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian essayists]]
[[Category:Poets from Tamil Nadu]]
[[Category:Indian Tamil writers]]
[[Category:Annamalai University alumni]]
[[Category:Indian Tamil people]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian poets]]
[[Category:Indian literary critics]]
[[Category:People from Coimbatore district]]

Kovai Gnani - Revision history

VLSLester417456 at 23:40, 7 February 2026