HEPHZIBAH JESUDASAN (1925-2012)

Hephzibah Jesudasan is a native of Pulippunam, Kanyakumari district, Tamil Nadu. She spent her early years in Burma, where her father worked. After the outbreak of the Second World War, her family had to leave Burma and rebuild their life in Pulipunam, which became the wellspring of her creative energy. A gentle and unassuming figure, Hephzibah Jesudasan straddled the world of Tamil and English Literature with ease. After completing her BA (Honours) in English from Maharaja’s University College, Trivandrum, she went on to work as a professor of English. An accomplished translator, essayist, novelist, poet and writer of children’s books, she took to writing in Tamil encouraged by her husband Jesudasan, who was a renowned professor of Tamil himself. Her works are memorable for her artless prose and earnest portrayal of the Palmyra climbers of her region. Her first novel ‘PuthamVeedu’ (1964) is celebrated as an important forerunner of the realistic novel in Tamil. Ma Ni, Anathai and Dr Chellappanare three of her other novels. Her book ‘The Tamils Down the Ages through their Literature’ is considered to have made significant contributions in tracing the history of Tamil writing.