K. H. Hussain is a computing expert and typeface designer from

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

, India. In the early days of the Malayalam computing, he came into the field of Malayalam computing by creating his own Malayalam font and text editor. He received Dr. Pradeepan Pampirikunnu Memorial Mathrubhasha (Mother Tongue) Award instituted by

Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit The Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit (SSUS) is a Sanskrit university in India established in 1993 When Indian Union Muslim league leader Sri. ET Muhammed Basheer was the. Education minister of Kerala in Kalady, Kochi, Kerala. The founda ...

, Kalady, and Government of Kerala e-Governance Award. Hussain's major contributions include eleven fonts including Rachana, Meera, Keraliyam, Tamil Inime, Dyuthi, Uroob and Panmana, the preservation of millions of pages in five digital archives, and the Arabic Malayalam keyboard. He was also responsible for setting up the first computer based information system in Malayalam.

Biography

K. H. Hussain was born in 1952 in Eriyad near

Kodungallur Kodungallur (; formerly also called as Cranganore (anglicised name), Portuguese language, Portuguese: Cranganor; Mahodayapuram, Shingly, Vanchi, Muchiri, Muyirikkode, and Muziris) is a historically significant town situated on the banks of Per ...

Thrissur district Thrissur (), anglicised as Trichur, is one of the List of districts of Kerala, 14 districts in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kerala. It is situated in the central region of the state. Spanning an area of about , th ...

of Kerala. He graduated from UC College, Aluva in 1978 with a degree in mathematics. After that he done his master's degree in Information Science from

Indira Gandhi National Open University Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) is a National university, public Open university (concept), open & Distance education, distance learning university located in Delhi, India. Named after the former Prime Minister of India, prime ...

. Attracted towards the Naxalite movement in Kerala, Hussain was jailed for 20 months for working against the Emergency in India. T. N. Joey was his political mentor. After the Emergency, he worked as a teacher at a tuition center in Kunnamkulam for some time. After graduating in Library Science from the

University of Kerala University of Kerala (formerly known as University of Travancore) is a state-run public university in Thiruvananthapuram, the state capital of Kerala, India. It was established in 1937 by a promulgation of the Maharajah of Travancore, Chithi ...

in 1980, he worked as a Librarian in the Kerala Forest Research Institute in 1981. While working as librarian, he entered the field of Information technology and font design. He later joined as scientist in Kerala Forest Research Institute, and retired from the same. In 1999, Hussain joined the Rachana Aksharavedi, a voluntary organization working for Malayalam computing. He entered the Malayalam computing field with R. Chithrajakumar and his team, composing a Malayalam unique font called Rachana, and a Malayalam language text editor. Hussain became part of the Rachana due to his knowledge of computers. The Unicode font released in 2006 was widely circulated under the leadership of Swathanthra Malayalam Computing. first published book in Rachana font was Guru Nithya Chaitanya Yati's ''Thumpoo Muthal Suryan Vare''. Hussain has worked with the Sayahna Foundation, aimed at preserving classic Malayalam books, founded in 2015 by C. V. Radhakrishnan. During 2014-15 he received a grant from

India Foundation for the Arts The India Foundation for the Arts (IFA) is an independent, non-profit organization that supports arts and cultural projects in India through funding and implementation. Established as a public trust in 1993, its headquarters is in Bangalore and ...

to document and analyze cultural, aesthetic, and technological paradigms along with political debates regarding the standardization and modernization of the Malayalam script.

Contributions

Hussain's major contributions include

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

fonts including Rachana, Meera, Keraliyam, Tamil Inime, Dyuthi, Uroob and Panmana, the preservation of millions of pages in five digital archives, and the Arabic Malayalam keyboard. He was also responsible for setting up the first computer based information system in Malayalam. He also developed a naming convention for the characters, making programming and writing shaping rules easier. The font Uroob designed by him is named after Malayalam writer

Uroob Parutholli Chalappurathu Kuttikrishnan Karunakara Menon, popularly known by his pen name Uroob (1915 – 1979) was an Indian writer of Malayalam literature. Along with Basheer, Thakazhi, Kesavadev, and Pottekkatt, Uroob was counted amon ...

. In 2015, with the financial support of International Centre for Open Source Software, an autonomous organisation under Government of Kerala, the font was re-designed, and released as a tribute to the 60th anniversary of Uroob's noted novel ''

Ummachu ''Ummachu'' (''Beloved'') is a Malayalam novel written by Uroob in 1954. ''Ummachu'' along with '' Sundarikalum Sundaranmarum'' are considered the best works by Uroob and are ranked among the finest novels in Malayalam. In ''Ummachu'', Uroob ex ...

''. In memory of actor

Bahadoor Padiyath Kochumoideen Kunjalu (1930 22 May 2000), better known by his stage name Bahadoor, was an Indian actor who appeared in Malayalam films, primarily in comedic roles. He, along with Adoor Bhasi, were the two major comedians in Malayalam ...

, on the 25th anniversary of his death, a new font named Bahadoor, prepared by Hussain was released in May 2025. The Bahadoor font is based on a commemorative book released in 1978 as a continuation of the reception given to Bahadur in his birthplace. The cover of the commemorative book was designed by artist

Namboothiri The Nambudiri (), also transliterated as Nampoothiri, Nambūdiri, Namboodiri, Namboothiri, Namboodri, Namboori, and Nampūtiri, are a Malayali Brahmin caste, native to what is now the state of Kerala, India, where they constituted part of th ...

. Husain designed the font based on the letters drawn by Namboothiri on the cover page. The commemorative stamp released on Bahadoor's 25th death anniversary is printed in this font.

Awards and honours

* 2018: Dr. Pradeepan Pampirikunnu Memorial Mathrubhasha (Mother Tongue) Award instituted by

, Kalady, for his contributions to the Malayalam language. * 2010: Government of Kerala e-Governance Award

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hussain, K. H. 20th-century Indian designers 1952 births Living people Indian typographers and type designers People from Thrissur district