Aadhavan Sundaram

Aadhavan Sundaram Biography

Aadhavan Sundaram was a famous writer belonging to Tamil literature of 20^th century. Aadhavan is the pseudonym of K. S. Sundaram. He belonged to Kallidaikurichi in Tirunelveli District, lived during the period, March 21, 1942 to July 19, 1987. He died at a comparatively young age of 45 at Shringeri, Karnataka after he drowned while bathing. This storyteller of fiction wrote Novels, Novellas, Short Stories, and also several books for children. En Peyar Ramaseshan, Kagidha Malargal and Mudalil Iravu Varum are among his most popular works. He was awarded the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award in Tamil literature posthumously for his collection of short stories titled, Mudalil Iravu Varum.

His birth name is K. S. Sundaram. He was born on March 21, 1942 in Kallidaikurichi, Tamil Nadu. He completed his higher studies from Delhi, and later worked with Indian Railways for a brief period. He recognized his true passion to be writing and quit the job. Later he worked as an assistant editor with National Book Trust of India.

As a writer, he started with writing children’s stories, and published his first work in a Tamil magazine called Kannan. He took Aadhavan as his pen name for his future writings. As a novelist, his work En Peyar Ramaseshan was critically well acclaimed, and was a bestseller. It was translated to foreign languages too. He has authored one play, Puzhudhiyil veenai.

Many of his short story collections were written for children. His most popular short story anthologies are Kaal vali, Singa Rajakumari, Pudhumaipithanin dhrogam, Kanavu kumizhigal, Mudalil Iravu Varum and Oru arayil irandu naarkaligal. On July 19, 1987, he drowned while swimming in a river at Shringeri. He was survived by his wife Hema Sundaram and two young daughters.

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Updated: July 02, 2018