Prof. Ganesh N. Devy


About Me:

  • Name:

    Prof. Ganesh N. Devy

  • Category:

    Civilian Award

  • Award:

    Padma Shri (2014), the Sahitya Akademi Award (1993), the SAARC Writers’ Foundation Award (2001), Prince Claus Award (2003).

  • Area:

    Indian Literary Critic, Thinker, Editor, Educator, Cultural Activist And Former Professor.

Details:

Education: G. N. Devy was educated at Shivaji University,Kolhapur and the University of Leeds,UK Among his many academic assignments, he held fellowships at Leeds University and Yale University.

Biography: He is known for the Peoples Linguistic Survey of Indiaand the Adivasi Academy created by him.He is credited to start the Bhaashaa research and Publication Centre.He writes in three languages Marathi, Gujarati and English. His first full length book in EnglishAfter Amnesia(1992).He has written and edited close to ninety books in areas including Literary Criticism, Anthropology, Education, Linguistics and Philosophy

In 1996, he gave up his academic career in order to initiate work with the Denotified and Nomadic Tribes (DNT) and Adivasis. During this work, he created the Bhasha Research and Publication Centre at Baroda, the Adivasis Academy at Tejgadh, the DNT-Rights Action Group and several other initiatives. Later he initiated the largest-ever survey of languages in history, carried out with the help of nearly 3000 volunteers and published in 50 multilingual volumes.

He was a Professor of English at the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda from 1980 to 96.

He was one of the founders of The Denotified and Nomadic Tribes Rights Action Group (DNT-RAG). He won the 2011 Linguapax Prize for his work for the preservation of linguistic diversity. His Marathi book Vanaprasth received eight awards including the Durga Bhagwat Memorial Award and the Maharashtra Foundation Award. Along with Laxman Gaikwad and Mahashweta Devi.