A. A. Manavalan
இந்தப் பக்கத்தை தமிழில் வாசிக்க: அ.அ.மணவாளன்
A. A. Manavalan was a Tamil Scholar and was very prolific in English & Hindi languages. He was involved in writing texts and published Classical Literature.
Birth & Education
A. A. Manavalan was born on 1935 in Arumbarapattu, Villupuram District to the couple of Telugu Poet Appavu and Athilakshmi Ammaiar. After completing his schooling, he graduated from Perur Santhalinga Sami Arts College with a degree in Tamil Literature. He also studied M.A. English in Jamal Mohamed College, Trichy.
He earned PhD degree in English literature for his doctoral dissertation Epic Heroism in Milton and Kamban.
Personal Life
A. A. Manavalan was survived by his wife Saraswati, sons Srinivasan (46), Jaganmohan (45) and daughter Brinda (52). After working at Pachaiyappa's College for Men, Kanchipuram and later at the World Tamil Research Institute, he joined the Department of Tamil at the University of Chennai to work on the Tamil-English Dictionary Program. 12 of his books about Literary Theories and Critiques were published, he has also written four books as a translator and five books as an editor. He has written over a hundred articles in Tamil and English. Apart from working in various Universities of Tamil Nadu, he has also been a Distinguished Professor in six universities in the United States. He retired from the post of Professor and Head of Department, University of Chennai.
Literary Life
A. A. Manavalan is a notable figure in the research of Tamil Literature and especially on Comparative Literature. He was given Fulbright Honarary fellowship and went to Indiana University which is well known for Comparative Literature. He also studied Comparative Literature in Chicago, Columbia & South Carolina Universities.
