S. Abdul Rahman

S. Abdul Rahman Biography

S. Abdul Rahman was a Tamil writer and poet from Madurai, Tamil Nadu. This Muslim poet has given some significant contributions to social reforms in the modern times. He belonged to the Vanambadi literary movement. He is a recipient of numerous literary honours including the Sahitya Akademi Award for Tamil. Kalaimamani award, Kalaigner award, Umaru Pulavar award, S. P. Adithanar Literary award, Pothigai award, Kambar Award, Bharathidasan award etc are a few more. His poetry collection Aalapanai is one of his major works. He was also an eminent professor for nearly three decades. He passed away in 2017.

S. Abdul Rahman was born in Madurai in 1937. After his post-graduation studies in Tamil literature, he joined Islamiah College at Vaniyambadi in Vellore district as a teacher. He worked as a lecturer and professor in college for many years till his retirement. He was associated with the college for long 29 years. He was fully active in literary career in the 1980s and later. He owns a magnificent and prominent position in Modern Tamil literature, especially in poetry genre, and considered one of the best modern poets. He is a part of Vanambadi literary movement also.

Despite being a Muslim in belief, he cherished the literary value of Vedas and Upanishads. In 1999 his anthology of poems, Aalapanai won the Sahitya Akademi Award for Tamil. When he was given this award, he was one among the writers who accused Sahitya Akademi for not giving Tamil poets their due. During his later years he served as chairman of the Wakf board of Tamil Nadu, and also a member of the Tamil Language Promotion Board of the Central Institute of Classical Tamil. He passed away on 2 June 2017 aged 79, and is survived by his son and daughter.

Published: September 04, 2018

Updated: September 04, 2018