Gopalakrishna Adiga

Gopalakrishna Adiga Biography

Gopalakrishna Adiga was one of the major writers of Kannada literature and a "pioneer of New style" poetry. Apart from poetry he has also published novels as well as essays. In 1974, he received Sahitya Academy award for his collection of poetry, Vardhamaana. His other noted works include - Samagra Kavya (collection of poems) – 1976, Bhavataranga – 1946, Ananthe (novel) – 1954, Bhoomi Geetha – 1959, Idanna Bayasiralilla (poems) - 1975 and Mannina Vasane (book of essays) – 1966. He was married to Lalitha with whom he has 5 children and 9 grandchildren.

Gopalakrishna Adiga was born in Udupi district of Karnataka state. His primary education was completed at his native village, Mogeri followed by Baindooru. His high school education was done at Kundapur, 14 miles away from his village. His studies was later supported by his aunt when his family members opposed it. Thus he later got opportunity to attend college studies. He completed graduation in English with honours from Maharaja's College, Mysore. Then he did small jobs before joining Sarada Vilas College in Mysore as lecturer in English from 1948 to 1952.

During his life as an English lecturer, he completed his post graduation as well. His master’s degree was taken from Nagpur University. Later he worked in St. Philomena College in Mysore for 10 years as faculty. He has also served as the principal of Lal Bahadur Shashtri College in Sagara (1964 to 1968) and Poorna Prajna College (1968 to 1971) at Udupi. In parallel, he has also served as the editor of Saakshi magazine. He has also worked as Deputy Director for the National Book Trust of India. Adiga contributed to Kannada literature in the form of poems, essays and translations. He has made a deep influence on Kannada literature in a writing career spanning to about 50 years.

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Updated: March 20, 2014