THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Noted writer, scholar and linguist Vellayani Arjunan passed away at a private hospital here on Wednesday following a brief illness. He was 90.
A Padma Shri awardee in 2008, Arjunan earned postgraduate degrees in four languages and authored over 40 books.
He is also credited as the first Indian to hold three D.Litt. degrees. He was the first Malayalam faculty member at Aligarh University and later became the head of the Modern Indian Languages department.
Arjunan was the director of the State Institute of Encyclopaedic Publications. During his tenure at the institute, seven volumes of the 12-volume Malayalam encyclopedia, 'Viswasahityavijnanakosam' were published.
He is credited with several publications including children's literature and critical studies. Arjunan had also served as director of the State Institute of Languages and School of Communication and Information Science at MG University.
He is survived by his wife Radhamani A and children Supriya A R, Sahithi A R, Rajasree A R and Jayasankar Prasad. His daughter Jayasree A R had passed away earlier. The funeral will be held at 8 pm on Wednesday at the house premises.