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==Biography==
==Biography==
Rajam Krishnan was born in [[Musiri]], [[Tiruchirapalli district]]. She had very little formal education and appears to have been largely an autodidact.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Women Writing in India: The Twentieth Century|last = Tharu, (ed)|first = Susie|publisher = Feminist Press at CUNY|year = 1993|isbn = 9781558610293|pages = 205–207}}</ref>
Rajam Krishnan was born in [[Musiri]], [[Tiruchirapalli district]]. She had very little formal education and appears to have been largely an autodidact.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Women Writing in India: The Twentieth Century|last = Tharu|first = Susie|publisher = Feminist Press at CUNY|year = 1993|isbn = 9781558610293|pages = 205–207}}</ref>


She started publishing in her twenties. She is known for writing well researched social novels on the lives of people usually not depicted in modern Tamil literature - poor farmers, salt pan workers, small-time criminals, jungle dacoits, under-trial prisoners and female labourers. She has written more than 80 books.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/lr/2004/01/04/stories/2004010400350600.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040311195600/http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/lr/2004/01/04/stories/2004010400350600.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=11 March 2004|title=Open to life and art|date=4 January 2004|work=[[The Hindu]]|access-date=23 May 2010|location=Chennai, India}}</ref> Her works include forty novels, twenty plays, two biographies and several short stories. In addition to her own writing, she was a translator of literature from Malayalam to Tamil.<ref name="K Lalita, 1993">Susie Tharu and K Lalita, ''Women Writing In India'' Feminist Press at CUNY, 1993) 203-206</ref> In their anthology of Women's Writing in India in the 19th and 20th Century, Susie J Tharu and K Lalita credit Krishnan with "having set a new trend in Tamil literature," referring to the extensive research that Krishnan did in evaluating social conditions as background for her writing.<ref name="K Lalita, 1993"/>
She started publishing in her twenties. She is known for writing well researched social novels on the lives of people usually not depicted in modern Tamil literature - poor farmers, salt pan workers, small-time criminals, jungle dacoits, under-trial prisoners and female labourers. She has written more than 80 books.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/lr/2004/01/04/stories/2004010400350600.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040311195600/http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/lr/2004/01/04/stories/2004010400350600.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=11 March 2004|title=Open to life and art|date=4 January 2004|work=[[The Hindu]]|access-date=23 May 2010|location=Chennai, India}}</ref> Her works include forty novels, twenty plays, two biographies and several short stories. In addition to her own writing, she was a translator of literature from Malayalam to Tamil.<ref name="K Lalita, 1993">Susie Tharu and K Lalita, ''Women Writing In India'' Feminist Press at CUNY, 1993) 203-206</ref> In their anthology of Women's Writing in India in the 19th and 20th Century, Susie J Tharu and K Lalita credit Krishnan with "having set a new trend in Tamil literature," referring to the extensive research that Krishnan did in evaluating social conditions as background for her writing.<ref name="K Lalita, 1993"/>


In 1973, she was awarded the [[Sahitya Akademi Award]] for [[List of Sahitya Akademi Award winners for Tamil language|Tamil]] for her novel ''Verukku Neer''.<ref name="sahitya">[http://www.sahitya-akademi.gov.in/old_version/awa10320.htm#tamil Tamil Sahitya Akademi Awards 1955-2007] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100124032426/http://www.sahitya-akademi.gov.in/old_version/awa10320.htm |date=2010-01-24 }} [[Sahitya Akademi]] Official website.</ref> In 2009, her works were nationalised by the [[Government of Tamil Nadu]], for a compensation of Rs. 300,000. It was a rare occurrence as only works of dead writers are usually nationalised in Tamil Nadu.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2009-05-31/chennai/28183081_1_sahitya-akademi-award-nationalisation-works|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811065936/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2009-05-31/chennai/28183081_1_sahitya-akademi-award-nationalisation-works|url-status=dead|archive-date=11 August 2011|title=Works of writer Rajam Krishnan to be nationalised|date=31 March 2009|work=[[The Times of India]]|access-date=23 May 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/lr/2004/01/04/stories/2004010400380600.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107204849/http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/lr/2004/01/04/stories/2004010400380600.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=7 November 2012|title=Metaphor for a generation|last=C. S. Lakshmi|author-link=C. S. Lakshmi|date=4 January 2004|work=[[The Hindu]]|access-date=23 May 2010|location=Chennai, India}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3071747.stm|title=India rights campaign for infanticide mothers|date=17 July 2003|work=[[BBC News]]|access-date=23 May 2010|first=Sampath|last=Kumar}}</ref>
In 1973, she was awarded the [[Sahitya Akademi Award]] for [[List of Sahitya Akademi Award winners for Tamil language|Tamil]] for her novel ''Verukku Neer''.<ref name="sahitya">[http://www.sahitya-akademi.gov.in/old_version/awa10320.htm#tamil Tamil Sahitya Akademi Awards 1955-2007] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100124032426/http://www.sahitya-akademi.gov.in/old_version/awa10320.htm |date=2010-01-24 }} [[Sahitya Akademi]] Official website.</ref> In 2009, her works were nationalised by the [[Government of Tamil Nadu]], for a compensation of Rs. 300,000. It was a rare occurrence as only works of dead writers are usually nationalised in Tamil Nadu.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Works-of-writer-Rajam-Krishnan-to-be-nationalised/articleshow/4598664.cms|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811065936/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2009-05-31/chennai/28183081_1_sahitya-akademi-award-nationalisation-works|url-status=live|archive-date=11 August 2011|title=Works of writer Rajam Krishnan to be nationalised|date=31 March 2009|work=[[The Times of India]]|access-date=23 May 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/lr/2004/01/04/stories/2004010400380600.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107204849/http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/lr/2004/01/04/stories/2004010400380600.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=7 November 2012|title=Metaphor for a generation|last=C. S. Lakshmi|author-link=C. S. Lakshmi|date=4 January 2004|work=[[The Hindu]]|access-date=23 May 2010|location=Chennai, India}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/3071747.stm|title=India rights campaign for infanticide mothers|date=17 July 2003|work=[[BBC News]]|access-date=23 May 2010|first=Sampath|last=Kumar}}</ref>


== Death ==
== Death ==
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Rajam was left poor and destitute in her later years and had to be admitted to an old age home.<ref name="thehindu_20141022" /> She died on 20 October 2014.<ref name="thehindu_20141022" />
Rajam was left poor and destitute in her later years and had to be admitted to an old age home.<ref name="thehindu_20141022" /> She died on 20 October 2014.<ref name="thehindu_20141022" />


==Partial bibliography==
==Bibliography==
 
*''Uthara Kaandam - (உத்தர காண்டம்)''
*''Uthara Kaandam - (உத்தர காண்டம்)''
*''Kurinji Then - (குறிஞ்சித்தேன்)''Kannada  & Malayalam Translations are published
*''Kurinji Then - (குறிஞ்சித்தேன்)''Kannada  & Malayalam Translations are published
*''Valaikaram - (வளைக்கரம்)''
*''Valaikaram - (வளைக்கரம்)''
*''Verukku Neer - (வேருக்கு நீர்)''Kannada Translation available
*''Verukku Neer - (வேருக்கு நீர்)''Kannada Translation available
*''Malargal - (மலர்கள்)''
*''Malargal - (மலர்கள்)'' <ref>{{cite web |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=q8UwHAAACAAJ |title= Malargal |author=<!--Not stated--> |date= 1993|website= Google Books |publisher= |access-date= July 22, 2025 |quote=}}</ref> 
*''Mullum Malarndhadhu - (முள்ளும் மலர்ந்தது)''
*''Mullum Malarndhadhu - (முள்ளும் மலர்ந்தது)''
*''Paadaiyil Padinda Adigal - (பாதையில் பதிந்த அடிகள்)''
*''Paadaiyil Padinda Adigal - (பாதையில் பதிந்த அடிகள்)''
*''Alaivaai Karayile - (அலைவாய் கரையிலே)''
*''Alaivaai Karayile - (அலைவாய் கரையிலே)'' <ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.amazon.in/ALAIVAAI-KARAIYIL-Novel-அலைவாய்க்-கரையில்/dp/B09VCB5M16 |title= Alaivaai Karayile |author=<!--Not stated--> |date= |website= Amazon |publisher= |access-date= July 22, 2025 |quote=}}</ref>
*''Karippu Manigal - (கரிப்பு மணிகள்)''
*''Karippu Manigal - (கரிப்பு மணிகள்)'' <ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.chennailibrary.com/rajamkrishnan/karippumanigal/km.html#google_vignette |title= Rajam Krishnan |author=<!--Not stated--> |date= |website= Chennai Library |publisher= |access-date= July 22, 2025 |quote=}}</ref>
*''Mannakattu puntulikal - (மண்ணகத்துப் பூந்துளிகள்)''
*''Mannakattu puntulikal - (மண்ணகத்துப் பூந்துளிகள்)''
*''Sathiya Velvi - (சத்திய வேள்வி)''
*''Sathiya Velvi - (சத்திய வேள்வி)''
*''Suzhalil Mithakkum Deepangal'' (Lamps in the Whirlpool)(1987)
*''Suzhalil Mithakkum Deepangal'' (Lamps in the Whirlpool) (1987)  


==Awards and recognitions==
==Awards and recognitions==
*[[New York Herald Tribune]] International Award for a short story (1950)
*[[New York Herald Tribune]] International Award for a short story (1950) <ref name=NIE>{{cite web |url= https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil-nadu/2014/Oct/22/acclaimed-feminist-writer-passes-away-674264.html |title= Acclaimed Feminist Writer Passes Away |author=<!--Not stated--> |date= 22 October 2014 |website= New Indian Express |publisher= |access-date= July 22, 2025 |quote=}}</ref>
*Kalaimagal award (1953)(நாவல் 'பெண் குரல்')
*Kalaimagal award (1953)(நாவல் 'பெண் குரல்') <ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.cambridgescholars.com/resources/pdfs/978-1-4438-2995-3-sample.pdf |title= Rajam Krishnan and Indian Feminist Hermeneutics |author=<!--Not stated--> |date= |website= Cambridge Scholars |publisher= |access-date= July 22, 2025 |quote=}}</ref>
*[[Sahitya Akademi Award]] for [[List of Sahitya Akademi Award winners for Tamil language|Tamil]] for ''Verukku Neer'' (Water for the Roots) (1973)
*'Malargal' (Flowers) Ananda Vikatan Novel Prize Winner(1958)('மலர்கள்' ஆனந்த விகடன் பரிசு நாவல் 1958){{citation needed|date= September 2022}}
*Thiru. Vi. Ka award (1991)
*[[Sahitya Akademi Award]] for [[List of Sahitya Akademi Award winners for Tamil language|Tamil]] for ''Verukku Neer'' (Water for the Roots) (1973) <ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/writer-rajam-krishnan-dead/article6524537.ece  |title= Writer Rajam Krishnan Dead |author=<!--Not stated--> |date= 22 October 2014 |website= The Hindu |publisher= |access-date= July 22, 2025 |quote=}}</ref>
*'Malargal' (Flowers) Ananda Vikatan Novel Prize Winner(1958)('மலர்கள்' ஆனந்த விகடன் பரிசு நாவல் 1958)
*Soviet Land Nehru Award (1975) for ''Vailaikkaram'' (Wrist with Bangles) <ref name=NIE /><ref>Susie Tharu and K Lalita, ''Women Writing In India'' (Feminist Press at CUNY, 1993) 203-206</ref>
*Soviet Land Nehru Award (1975) for ''Vailaikkaram'' (Wrist with Bangles)<ref>Susie Tharu and K Lalita, ''Women Writing In India'' (Feminist Press at CUNY, 1993) 203-206</ref>
*Thiru. Vi. Ka award (1991) <ref name=NIE />


==References==
==References==
Line 95: Line 96:
[[Category:20th-century Indian women writers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women writers]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Tamil]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Tamil]]
[[Category:Tamil writers]]
[[Category:Indian Tamil writers]]
[[Category:People from Tiruchirappalli district]]
[[Category:People from Tiruchirappalli district]]
[[Category:2014 deaths]]
[[Category:2014 deaths]]

Latest revision as of 08:44, 21 January 2026

Rajam Krishnan
BornRajam Krishnan
1924 or 1925
Musiri, Tiruchirapalli district
Died20 October 2014

Rajam Krishnan (1924[1] or 1925 – 20 October 2014), was a feminist Tamil writer from Tamil Nadu, India.

Biography[edit | edit source]

Rajam Krishnan was born in Musiri, Tiruchirapalli district. She had very little formal education and appears to have been largely an autodidact.[2]

She started publishing in her twenties. She is known for writing well researched social novels on the lives of people usually not depicted in modern Tamil literature - poor farmers, salt pan workers, small-time criminals, jungle dacoits, under-trial prisoners and female labourers. She has written more than 80 books.[3] Her works include forty novels, twenty plays, two biographies and several short stories. In addition to her own writing, she was a translator of literature from Malayalam to Tamil.[4] In their anthology of Women's Writing in India in the 19th and 20th Century, Susie J Tharu and K Lalita credit Krishnan with "having set a new trend in Tamil literature," referring to the extensive research that Krishnan did in evaluating social conditions as background for her writing.[4]

In 1973, she was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award for Tamil for her novel Verukku Neer.[5] In 2009, her works were nationalised by the Government of Tamil Nadu, for a compensation of Rs. 300,000. It was a rare occurrence as only works of dead writers are usually nationalised in Tamil Nadu.[6][7][8]

Death[edit | edit source]

Rajam was left poor and destitute in her later years and had to be admitted to an old age home.[1] She died on 20 October 2014.[1]

Bibliography[edit | edit source]

  • Uthara Kaandam - (உத்தர காண்டம்)
  • Kurinji Then - (குறிஞ்சித்தேன்)Kannada & Malayalam Translations are published
  • Valaikaram - (வளைக்கரம்)
  • Verukku Neer - (வேருக்கு நீர்)Kannada Translation available
  • Malargal - (மலர்கள்) [9]
  • Mullum Malarndhadhu - (முள்ளும் மலர்ந்தது)
  • Paadaiyil Padinda Adigal - (பாதையில் பதிந்த அடிகள்)
  • Alaivaai Karayile - (அலைவாய் கரையிலே) [10]
  • Karippu Manigal - (கரிப்பு மணிகள்) [11]
  • Mannakattu puntulikal - (மண்ணகத்துப் பூந்துளிகள்)
  • Sathiya Velvi - (சத்திய வேள்வி)
  • Suzhalil Mithakkum Deepangal (Lamps in the Whirlpool) (1987)

Awards and recognitions[edit | edit source]

  • New York Herald Tribune International Award for a short story (1950) [12]
  • Kalaimagal award (1953)(நாவல் 'பெண் குரல்') [13]
  • 'Malargal' (Flowers) Ananda Vikatan Novel Prize Winner(1958)('மலர்கள்' ஆனந்த விகடன் பரிசு நாவல் 1958)[citation needed]
  • Sahitya Akademi Award for Tamil for Verukku Neer (Water for the Roots) (1973) [14]
  • Soviet Land Nehru Award (1975) for Vailaikkaram (Wrist with Bangles) [12][15]
  • Thiru. Vi. Ka award (1991) [12]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Kolappan, B. (22 October 2014). "Writer Rajam Krishnan dead". The Hindu.
  2. ↑ Tharu, Susie (1993). Women Writing in India: The Twentieth Century. Feminist Press at CUNY. pp. 205–207. ISBN 9781558610293.
  3. ↑ "Open to life and art". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 4 January 2004. Archived from the original on 11 March 2004. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Susie Tharu and K Lalita, Women Writing In India Feminist Press at CUNY, 1993) 203-206
  5. ↑ Tamil Sahitya Akademi Awards 1955-2007 Archived 2010-01-24 at the Wayback Machine Sahitya Akademi Official website.
  6. ↑ "Works of writer Rajam Krishnan to be nationalised". The Times of India. 31 March 2009. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
  7. ↑ C. S. Lakshmi (4 January 2004). "Metaphor for a generation". The Hindu. Chennai, India. Archived from the original on 7 November 2012. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
  8. ↑ Kumar, Sampath (17 July 2003). "India rights campaign for infanticide mothers". BBC News. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
  9. ↑ "Malargal". Google Books. 1993. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
  10. ↑ "Alaivaai Karayile". Amazon. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
  11. ↑ "Rajam Krishnan". Chennai Library. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 "Acclaimed Feminist Writer Passes Away". New Indian Express. 22 October 2014. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
  13. ↑ "Rajam Krishnan and Indian Feminist Hermeneutics" (PDF). Cambridge Scholars. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
  14. ↑ "Writer Rajam Krishnan Dead". The Hindu. 22 October 2014. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
  15. ↑ Susie Tharu and K Lalita, Women Writing In India (Feminist Press at CUNY, 1993) 203-206

External links[edit | edit source]

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