Sooranad Kunjan Pillai Biography 
Sooranad Kunjan Pillai was an Indian writer, historian and lexicographer from Kerala, associated with Malayalam. He was also a Malayalam scholar, literary critic, orator, grammarian and educationist. His best ever contribution is the compilation of Malayala Maha Nighantu, a lexicon. He was also the first recipient of Ezhuthachan Puraskaram, the highest literary honour of Malayalam literature, and he received the honour in 1993. He was also a recipient of the Vallathol Award in 1992, Padma Shri in 1984 and many more honours.
His full name is Sooranad P. N. Kunjan Pillai. He was born in Kollam on November 26, 1911. His hometown Sooranad is near Sasthamkotta in the district of Kollam. Payikkattu Neelakanta Pillai and Karthiyani Pillai Amma are his parents. He did primary education from Thevalakkara Primary School followed by Chavara High School, and completed secondary education in 1927. His higher education was completed from University College, Thiruvananthapuram, and he secured two more master's degrees, in Sanskrit in 1934 and in Malayalam in 1935. He started his professional career as an English teacher in St. Joseph School, Thiruvananthapuram and retired in 1971 as the Chief Editor of Malayalam Lexicon, University of Kerala. He has been serving this position for nearly two decades.
Known to be a scholar of Malayalam language, he authored books in Malayalam, English and Sanskrit. He also knew Hindi and Tamil. He wrote novels, short stories, poems, biographies, history, essays, lexicon and grammar. As an educator and scholar he authored 150 textbooks for high school classes. He compiled the Malayalam translation of Kathasaritsagara, and also a Malayalam dictionary. He was honoured by the title of Sahithya Nipunan by Rajah of Cochin. Sooranad Kunjan Pillai Award has been instituted in his memory.
Published: March 15, 2020
Updated: March 15, 2020
