C. S. Chellappa

C. S. Chellappa Biography

C. S. Chellappa was a writer and journalist belonging to Tamil language. He was also a freedom fighter and activist who lived during the period, 29 September 1912 – 18 December 1998. He was one among the lead figures of the Tamil literary movement, "Manikodi" and joined hands with some of the great writers and his contemporaries. His novel Suthanthira Thagam won the Sahitya Akademi Award for 2001 posthumously. He was also the founder of the literary magazine, Ezhuthu. He was an author of two novels, 109 short stories and 50 odd articles. He completed The thirst for freedom, a three volume epic novel at the age of 80+.

Cinnamanur Subramaniam Chellappa was born on 29 September 1912. His father Subramania Iyer was a government employee and nationalist. Chellappa held a degree in economics. During his teens he got drawn towards Indian freedom struggle movement, and was equally influenced by Mahatma Gandhi’s principles of non-violence and Bahgat Singh’s revolutionary ideas. He participated in the Batlagundu Satyagraha and got arrested. He was jailed for 6 months. Once he returned he started a paper manufacturing industry.

As a writer he started off in the 1930s and published his first story Margazhi Malar in 1934. Since then he dedicated more than 6 decades for writing till his death in 1998. Vaadivasal, Jeevanamsam and Suthanthira Thagam are his published novels, and Muraipenn – his most popular play. He also contributed many works in the form of literary criticism such as Ramaiyyavin sirukathai kalam,    Oothupathi pul and Mayathachan. He lived in a small room near a congested bylane of Chennai during his last days, where he was busy with the work, The thirst for freedom, which he succeeded to complete.

Published: September 15, 2018

Updated: September 15, 2018