U. R. Ananthamurthy Biography: Birthday, Early Life, Career, Personal Life, Controversies, Death

U. R. Ananthamurthy Biography: Udupi Rajagopalacharya Ananthamurthy (21 December 1932 – 22 August 2014) was a Kannada-language contemporary Indian author and critic. He was born in Thirtahalli Taluk and is regarded as one of the Navya movement’s pioneers. In 1994, he became the sixth Kannada author to receive India’s highest literary award, the Jnanpith Award. In 1998, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the Indian government. In the late 1980s, he served as vice-chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi University in Kerala. He was one of the finalists for the 2013 Man Booker International Prize. He remained a fervent critic of nationalistic political parties until his death on August 22, 2014, due to kidney failure and cardiac arrest.

U. R. Ananthamurthy Biography

Name:	Udupi Rajagopalacharya Ananthamurthy
Birth Date:	21 December 1932
Place Of Birth:	Thirtahalli Taluk
Death:	22 August 2014

Early years

Before leaving for England, U. R. Ananthamurthy studied at Manasa Gangotri, University of Mysore, in the early 1970s.

Ananthamurthy was born into a Brahmin family that spoke Kannada in Melige, Tirthahalli taluk, Shimoga District. His education began in Doorvasapura at a traditional Sanskrit school and continued in Tirthahalli and Mysore. After receiving a Master of Arts from the University of Mysore, U. R. Ananthamurthy taught in the English department at University of Mysore (pictured) for a while before receiving a Commonwealth Scholarship to continue his education in England. In 1966, the University of Birmingham awarded him a doctorate for his dissertation titled “Politics and Fiction in the 1930s.”

U. R. Ananthamurthy Profession

1970 marked the beginning of Ananthamurthy’s tenure as a professor and instructor at the University of Mysore’s English department. From 1987 to 1991, he served as Vice-Chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi University in Kottayam, Kerala. In 1992, he served as Chairman of the National Book Trust of India. He was elected president of the Sahitya Academy in 1993. He was a visiting professor at numerous Indian and international institutions, including Jawaharlal Nehru University, University of Tübingen, University of Iowa, Tufts University, and Shivaji University. Ananthamurthy served twice as the Film and Television Institute of India’s chairman. He was designated the inaugural Chancellor of the Central University of Karnataka in 2012. Additionally, he contributed to the establishment of the Humanities department at Manipal University. Later in 2012, he spent four months as a visiting professor at Manipal Centre for Philosophy and Humanities, Manipal University.

As a writer and public speaker, Ananthamurthy has participated in and delivered lectures at numerous seminars both inside and outside the United States. He was a member of the committee of Indian authors in 1990, during which he visited the Soviet Union, Hungary, France, and West Germany. In 1989, he travelled to Moscow as a board member for a Soviet publication. Ananthamurthy was the head of the group of authors who travelled to China in 1993.

Banita Sandhu Biography: Age, Height, Career, Family, Personal Life, Net Worth

U. R. Ananthamurthy Personal Life

U. R. Ananthamurthy met his wife Esther in 1954; the couple wed in 1956. Two of their offspring were named Sharath and Anuradha. He lived in Bangalore for the majority of his later years. His son-in-law, Vivek Shanbhag, is also a renowned Kannada writer.

Controversies

Ananthamurthy announced in June 2007 that he would not participate in literary events in the future in response to widespread criticism of his response to S.L. Bhyrappa’s controversial novel Aavarana.

Murthy’s claim in 2013 that the Mahabharata mentions Brahmins consuming beef attracted criticism from Hindu religious leaders. Vishwesha Teertha Swami of Pejawar Math remarked that there was no mention of Brahmins ingesting beef in the conversation between Bhishma and Yudhishtira or elsewhere in the Mahabharata, and he was surprised by Murthy’s statement.

Murthy, who has been an outspoken critic of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)/Jan Sangh for more than 50 years, stated in 2013 that he would not survive in a nation ruled by Narendra Modi. Later, he clarified that those comments were made while he was “overcome by emotion” and stated that he had no such plan, though he continued to oppose the BJP. Murthy was provided with special police protection after receiving menacing phone calls. Later, when Modi became prime minister, a group of Modi supporters known as the “NaMo Brigade” gave him a free passage to Pakistan. After Murthy’s death was announced on 22 August 2014, a number of BJP and Hindu Jagarana Vedike members were arrested for commemorating his passing by setting off fireworks in four locations in Mangalore and one location in Chikkamagaluru.

U. R. Ananthamurthy Death

Ananthamurthy died of cardiac arrest on August 22, 2014, at the age of 81, at Manipal Hospital in Bangalore, India. He had been afflicted with a kidney disease for a number of years and was undergoing dialysis treatment alongside diabetes and a cardiac condition. On 13 August, he was admitted to Manipal Hospital with an infection and fever and was treated with a multi-support system.

The Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, expressed his condolences upon learning of Ananathamurthy’s passing.