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Akilan becomes the first Tamil writer to win the Jnanpith

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Akilan becomes the first Tamil writer to win the Jnanpith
Unknown author, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Novelist Akilan received the Jnanpith Award for his novel Chithirappavai, the first for a Tamil writer.

The Tamil novelist Akilan (P. V. Akilandam) won the Jnanpith Award in 1975 for his novel Chithirappavai. He had earlier received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1963 for the historical novel Vengayin Mainthan. He was the first Tamil writer to receive the Jnanpith, India's highest literary award. His works were translated into many Indian and foreign languages.

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