C. S. Chellappa

Cinnamanur Subramaniam Chellappa (Tamil: சி. சு. செல்லப்பா) (29 September 1912 – 18 December 1998) was a Tamil writer, journalist and Indian independence movement activist. He belonged to the "Manikodi" literary movement along with Pudhumaipithan, Ku Pa Ra, Va. Ramasamy, N. Pichamurthy and A. N. Sivaraman. He also founded Ezhuthu, a literary magazine His novel Suthanthira Thagam won the Sahitya Akademi Award for 2001.

Biography

Chellappa was born in 1912 to Subramania Iyer, a government employee and nationalist. Chellappa did his schooling in Tuticorin and obtained a degree in economics. However, he failed to obtain a degree in English literature.

In the early years of his life, Chellappa was influenced by Bhagat Singh but later he adopted Mahatma Gandhi's creed of non-violence. Chellappa participated in the Batlagundu satyagraha and was arrested on 10 January 1941. He spent six months in jail and on his return, established a paper manufacturing industry. Chellappa began writing in 1934 when he published his first story Margazhi Malar.

By the time of his death in 1998, Chellappa had written over 109 short stories and 50 articles.

Partial bibliography

Novels

• Vaadivasal (1958)
• Jeevanamsam
• Suthanthira Thagam

Plays

• Muraipenn

Literary criticism

• Ramaiyyavin sirukathai kalam
• Oothupathi pul
• Mayathachan