Kirtinath Kurtakoti

Kirtinath Kurtakoti (October 13, 1928 - July 31, 2003) was a Kannada writer and critic who won among other awards, the Central Sahitya Akademi honour of India.cite web|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/105963.cms|work=Times of India|date=2003-08-01|title=Kannada critic Kurtakoti dead|accessdate=2008-03-04] Apart from Kannada, he was well-versed in other languages including Hindi and Sanskrit.

Early life

Kurtakoti was born in the town of Gadag in the Indian state of Karnataka on October 13, 1928. He completed his graduation in Bachelor of Arts from Karnatak College in Dharwad and served as a teacher in few colleges, before moving to the town of Anand in Gujarat. He completed his post-graduation in English and was employed at the Sardar Patel University in Gujarat. He married a lady named Saraswati Bai.

Works

His most prominent Kannada work is "Marathi Samskruti - Kelavu Samasyegalu" ("Marathi Culture - Some Problems") which was originally written in Marathi by Sham. Bha. Joshi. This won him the Central Sahitya Akademi award. Kannada Book Authority (KBA) allegedly included this translated version in a publication that it brought out, without taking the permission of Kurtakoti, forcing him to send a legal notice to KBA.cite web|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/598346.cms|work=Times of India|date=2002-02-10|title=Kurtakoti says KBA published his work sans permission|accessdate=2008-03-04] He has authored other books like "Uriya Nalige", "Chandragupta", "Bhringada Benneri", "Nadedu Banda Daari" and "Putta Bangara". He has also written plays like "Aa Mani", which have been staged by troupes like Ninasam.cite web|url=http://www.deccanherald.com/Archives/apr122004/metro11.asp|date=2004-04-12|title=Conflict between real and surreal|author=Narayan Raichur|accessdate=2008-03-04] His book "Nadedu Banda Daari" ("Path Traversed") is a treatise on the achievement of Kannada literature from the past to the present, while his book "Bhringada Benneri" provides an overview of the poems of D. R. Bendre.

Later life

He spent his retired life at Dharwad. He held certain positions like that of an adviser to "Manohara Granthamele", a publishing house and was also nominated to the Jnanpith language panel. He was also a member of the syndicate of the Kannada University at Hampi. On 31 July, 2003, aged 75, he died of cardiac arrest, just about three hours after his wife's death.

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