Tamil scholar Avvai Natarajan, who served as the Vice-Chancellor of Tamil University in Thanjavur and known for his exceptional oratorical skills, died in Chennai on Monday. He was 86.
He is survived by three sons — N. Arul, Director in the Department of Tamil Development, and N. Kannan and N. Bharathan, both doctors.
Born Sivapatha Sekaran in 1936 in Tiruvannamalai district, his father Avvai Duraisamy, himself a well-known Tamil scholar, changed his son’s name to Natarajan later. Natarajan added the prefix ‘Avvai’ to his name when he was a B.A. Honours student in Tamil in Pachaiyappa’s College.
A favourite among his students, he taught Tamil in Raja Serfoji Government College in Thanjavur and Thiagarajar College in Madurai for a few years in the late 1950s and 1960s. He worked as newsreader in All India Radio.
He was brought to the Department of Information and Public Relations of Tamil Nadu government when M. Karunanidhi was the Chief Minister in 1974. In a rare feat, he went on to serve as the Secretary of Department of Tamil Development and Culture even though he was not an IAS officer. He was the Vice-Chancellor of the Tamil University from 1992 to 1995. Later, he served as the Vice Chairperson in the Governing Board of Central Institute of Classical Tamil.
Being proficient in Tamil and English, he published a number of works in both the languages. The many awards he received included the Padma Shri conferred by the Union government and Kalaimamani by the Tamil Nadu government.
Governor R.N. Ravi said he was “deeply saddened by the demise of prominent educationist, scholar and Padma Shri Award-winner Avvai Natarajan.” He expressed his heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family.
In his condolence message, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin recollected the affection and respect Natarajan shared with Karunanidhi. Stating that there could be no Tamil aficionados who is not attracted by Natarajan’s talks on Sangam literature, Kamba Ramayanam, and Tholkappiyam, he said the scholar’s demise was a great loss to the Tamil community.
