Malappurath Raman Chandrasekharan (26 February 1929 – 4 December 2024), also known as M. R. C., was an Indian

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 ...

literary critic and author 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 ...

. Chandrasekharan published more than 50 books in different literary sections like literary criticism, translations, politics, social etc. He also worked in the field of journalism and education. He won the 2010

Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Literary Criticism The Kerala Sahitya Academy Award for Literary Criticism is an award given every year by the Kerala Sahitya Akademi (Kerala Literary Academy) to Malayalam writers for writing literary criticism. It is one of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award#Awards ...

Biography

Chandrasekharan was born on 26 February 1929 at

Pottore Pottore (CT) is a census town in Thrissur district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Kerala. Pottore is located 7–8 km from Thrissur town and is part of Kolazhy Grama Panchayat. Its approximate location is 10°34'25" ...

Thrissur Thrissur (, ), Renaming of cities in India, formerly Trichur, also known by its historical name Thrissivaperur, is a city and the headquarters of the Thrissur district in Kerala, India. It is the List of most populous urban agglomerations in Ke ...

. His childhood days were spent in the village where he attended the Tirur Lower Secondary School and Vivekodayam High School,

. He took his

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

from

Sree Kerala Varma College Sree Kerala Varma College is a government-aided higher education institution located in Kanattukara, Thrissur, Kerala, India. Established in 1947, the college was founded by Aikya Keralam Thampuran, the Maharaja of the former Kingdom of Cochi ...

, Thrissur, BOL from

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

and later his master's degree from

Kerala University 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, Chithira ...

in Malayalam language and literature. Chandrasekharan started his career as a journalist in Navajeevan edited by

Joseph Mundassery Joseph Mundassery (17 July 1903 – 25 October 1977) was a literary critic and Indian politician from Kerala state. He specialised in the Malayalam language and literature. In Kerala politics, he is remembered as the Education Minister who wa ...

for the CPI. Subsequently, he joined as a sub-editor in

Mathrubhumi ''Mathrubhumi'' is a Malayalam newspaper that is published from Kerala, India. It was founded by K. P. Kesava Menon, an active volunteer in the Indian freedom struggle against the British. The word "Mathrubhumi" translates to 'mother land'. ...

daily in

Kozhikode Kozhikode (), also known as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. Known as the City of Spices, Kozhikode is listed among the City of Literature, UNESCO's Cities of Literature. It is the nineteenth large ...

, but was sent out for his

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

leanings. He worked as a school teacher at Kodakara National High School and Bekal Govt. High School. He joined as a lecturer at Malabar Christian College,

, in 1956 and moved to Payyannur College,

Kannur Kannur (), formerly known in English as Cannanore, is a city and Municipal corporation (India), municipal corporation in the state of Kerala, India. It is the administrative headquarters of the Kannur district and situated north of the maj ...

as senior lecturer in 1965. He retired from Payyannur College,

after over 30 years of teaching service in the year 1989. After retirement he also worked as Malayalam Professor in Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit. He later settled at Ananganadi P.O.Panamanna, Ottappalam in Palghat district,

. He was active with his writings and enjoyed the challenge of organic farming. Chandrasekharan died on 4 December 2024, at the age of 95.

Positions held

Chandrasekharan was very much involved in The All Kerala Private College Teachers' Association (AKPCTA) and was a college committee secretary, regional secretary, regional president, general secretary and president of the association. As association representative, he was elected to the Calicut University senate and syndicate. He was a member of Kerala Sahithya Academy general council and its executive committee. Chandrasekharan was one of the directors of the Calicut City Service Co-Operative Bank from 2006 to 2013. He was a member of the Academic Council of Thunchath Ezhuthachan Malayalam University established in 2012. In 1961, when Kerala Sahithya Samiti was formed with Kuttipuzha Krishna Pillai as president, S. K. Pottekkatt as vice-president, N. V. Krishna Warrier as general secretary in

, MRC and Vayalar Ramavarma were named secretaries. MRC was later general secretary and president of the organisation. He was also involved in the formation in 1969 of the Deshabhimani Study Circle, cited as a vigorous and widespread literary movement in Kerala along with E. M. S. Namboodiripad, M.S.Devadas and P.Govindapillai. He published the literary critical journal ''Sahithya Samithi Masika'' from Payyanur from 1976 to 1980. In 1969, when he was the research officer at Kerala Bhasha Institute, he worked as the executive editor of the magazine ''Vignana Kairali'' (). After retirement in 1989, he took up the editorship of a magazine called ''Chindana'' ( ) published in

. He was the editor of CMP's weekly journal ''Malayala Mannu'' (Malayalam:മലയാളമണ്ണ്) from 1990 to 2013.

Awards and honours

Chandrasekharan won the 2010

for his book ''Malayalam Novel Innum Innaleyum''. He won the Dr. C.P.Menon Award for The Study of the Progressive School in Literature for his book ''Keralathile purogamana sahitya prastanathinte charithram'' in 2005. Chandrasekharan also won the M. N. Sathyaardhi Award in recognition of his contributions to Malayalam literature as a translator. The award was instituted by the M.N. Sathyarthi Trust in memory of the writer who is remembered for his translations of many popular Indian-language works into Malayalam. He was awarded the MVR award in 2018.എം.വി.ആർ. അവാർഡ്‌ എം.ആർ. ചന്ദ്രശേഖരന്‌

Bibliography

Literary criticism

Political thinking

Social

List of Social Books by M. R. C.

Memoirs

Novel translation

Science translation

Children's literature

Other genres

Journals edited

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chandrasekharan, M. R. 1929 births 2024 deaths Indian literary critics Writers from Thrissur district Writers from Thrissur Indian children's writers Indian male writers 20th-century Indian non-fiction writers 20th-century Indian translators Indian political writers Indian literary historians Malayalam-language writers Indian memoirists Indian social sciences writers Scholars from Kerala Novelists from Kerala 20th-century Indian novelists 21st-century Indian novelists 21st-century Indian translators