R. P. Sethu Pillai ( ta, ரா. பி. சேது பிள்ளை) (1896–1961), was a

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

scholar, writer and professor of Tamil at the

University of Madras The University of Madras (informally known as Madras University) is a public state university in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and among the most prestigious universities in India, incorporated by an a ...

Biography

Sethu pillai was born at Rajavallipuram, Tirunelveli District in 1896. He was educated and practiced as a lawyer. He became interested in Tamil after listening to a speech of

Maraimalai Adigal Maraimalai Adigal (15 July 1876 – 15 September 1950) was a Tamil orator and writer and father of Pure Tamil movement. He was a fervent Tamizh Saivite. He wrote more than 100 books, including works on original poems and dramas, but most famous ...

Palayamkottai Palayamkottai (also Palayankottai) is a neighbourhood in Tirunelveli City, incorporated within the Tirunelveli City Municipal Corporation. It is situated on the east bank of the Thamirabarani river, with the exception of its downtown area, wh ...

in June 1912. After a brief career in politics (he was the Vice Chairman of the Tirunelveli Municipal Council), he became a teacher. During 1930-36, he taught at

Annamalai University , logo = CampusmapofAU.jpg , image = Annamalai University logo.png , image_size = 225px , motto = "With Courage and Faith" , established = , type ...

. In 1936, he became a senior lecturer at the Madras University. In 1946, he succeeded Prof. Vaiyapuri Pillai as the Reader of Tamil and the Head of the Tamil department in the University. In 1948, the readership was converted to a full professorship and he became Professor of Tamil. From 1946 till his death in 1961 he was the Head of the Tamil department. In 1955, he won the first ever

Sahitya Akademi Award The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the ...

for

for his series of essays titled ''Tamil inbam''. In 1957, he was awarded a D. Litt degree (''honoris causa''). Sethu pillai was a scholar of Tamil and wrote more than twenty five books. Among his notable works is his biography of Bishop

Robert Caldwell Robert Caldwell (7 May 1814 – 28 August 1891) was a missionary for London Missionary Society. He arrived in India at age 24, studied the local language to spread the word of Bible in a vernacular language, studies that led him to author a tex ...

titled ''Caldwell Aiyar Sarithram''. He was popularly called ''Sollin Selvar'' (lit. the child of the word) for his proficiency in Tamil. He was a member of the Tamil advisory board for the

Sahitya Akademi The Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, is an organisation dedicated to the promotion of literature in the languages of India. Founded on 12 March 1954, it is supported by, though independent of, the Indian government. Its of ...

since its inception in 1954. He was involved in the creation of the Tamil encyclopaedia and the last volume of the Tamil lexicon. He also wrote a number of books and articles in English. The most noted among them is his edition of

Francis Whyte Ellis Francis Whyte Ellis (1777–1819) was a British civil servant in the Madras Presidency and a scholar of Tamil and Sanskrit. Biography Ellis became a writer in the East India Company's service at Madras in 1796. He was promoted to the offices o ...

' commentary of

Tirukkural The ''Tirukkuṟaḷ'' ( ta, திருக்குறள், lit=sacred verses), or shortly the ''Kural'' ( ta, குறள்), is a classic Tamil language text consisting of 1,330 short couplets, or kurals, of seven words each. The tex ...

and ''Dravidian comparative vocabulary''. Sethu pillai died in 1961. In 2009, Sethu Pillai's works were nationalised by the

Government of Tamil Nadu Government of Tamil Nadu is the subnational government for the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is seated at Fort St George, Chennai. The legislature of Tamil Nadu was bicameral until 1986, when it was replaced by a unicameral legislature, l ...

. He was the one to give the title 'Silambu Selvar' to Ma. Po. Si.(M.P.Sivagnanam) praising the immense knowledge he had in the field of

Silappatikaram ''Cilappatikāram'' ( ta, சிலப்பதிகாரம் ml, ചിലപ്പതികാരം,IPA: ʧiləppət̪ikɑːrəm, ''lit.'' "the Tale of an Anklet"), also referred to as ''Silappathikaram'' or ''Silappatikaram'', is the e ...

epic.

Bibliography

Tamil

*''Thamizhakam oorum perum'' *''Tamil inbam'' *''Velum villum'' *''Velin verri'' *''Alayum kalayum'' *''Vaazhi Vaazhi Valluvar'' *''Caldwell Aiyar Sarithram'' *''Kristhuva Tamil tondarkal'' *''Tiruvalluvar nool nayam'' *''Tamil nattu navamanigal'' *''Aatrangkarayinile'' *''Kattar karayilae'' *''Tamil kavithai kalanchiyam'' *''Viramanagar'' *''Tamilar veeram'' *''Tenmozhigalil palamozhigal'' *''Sollin Selvar'' *''Medai Pechu''

English

*Ellis commentary of Tirukural *Dravidian comparative vocabulary *Common Dravidian proverbs and words and their significance

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sethu Pillai, R. P. 1896 births 1961 deaths Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Tamil Tamil writers People from Tirunelveli district Academic staff of Annamalai University