Professor G. Venkatasubbaiah, the grand old man of Kannada language, died in Bengaluru early on Monday. He was 107.
GV, as he is popularly known in Kannada literary field, was a lexicographer, grammarian and literary critic. He has compiled 12 dictionaries. His works cover various forms of Kannada literature, including grammar, poetry, translation and essays.
After completing his post-graduation in Kannada, he started his career as a teacher at a municipal school in Mandya. Later, he went on to teach at a high school in Davanagere and at Maharaja’s College in Mysuru before switching over to Vijaya College in Bengaluru. He took up the task of working on Kannada-to-Kannada dictionary as its chief editor after retiring from Vijaya College in 1973.
He had presided over the 77th Akhila Bharata Kannada Sahitya Sammelana held in Bengaluru in 2011.
His monumental literary works got him various awards, including the Padma Shri, Pampa Award, Bhasha Samman by the Sahitya Akademi, Karnataka Rajyotsava Award and the Karnataka Sahitya Akademi Award.
His enthusiasm even after crossing 100 years had caught the attention of people.
