John Ralston Marr | |
---|---|
Born | United Kingdom | 5 July 1927
Died | 19 May 2022 United Kingdom | (aged 94)
Occupation(s) | Writer Indologist |
Known for | Tamil Studies |
Awards | Padma Shri Kural Peedam Award |
John Ralston Marr (5 July 1927 – 19 May 2022) was a British Indologist, writer and a member of faculty at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London.[1] He is known as a scholar of Carnatic music and Tamil literature[2] and is the author of several publications[3] including An introduction to colloquial Tamil,[4] The Pĕriya purāṇam frieze at Tārācuram : episodes in the lives of the Tamil Śaiva saints,[5] The eight Tamil anthologies, with special reference to Pur̲anān̲ūr̲u and Patir̲r̲uppattu[6] and Letterature dravidiche, the last one in Italian language.[7] His book, An introduction to Colloquial Tamil. is a prescribed text for post graduate studies in Tamil language at the School of Oriental and African Languages[8] and he presented a paper at the Fourth International Conference Seminar of Tamil Studies at Jaffna, in 1974.[9] He is a founder trustee of the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, UK[10] and a recipient of the 2011 Kural Peedam Award of the Central Institute of Classical Tamil, an autonomous institution under the Ministry of Human Resource Development.[11] The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2009, for his contributions to Education.[12] Marr died on 19 May 2022, at the age of 94.[13]