P KESAVADEV

P. Kesavadev (1905–1983) was born in August 1905, originally named Kesava Pillai. Drawn to the ideas of Pandit Kshiram, he joined the Arya Samaj and adopted the name Kesavadev. He later became active in the rationalist movement and entered politics, leading several labor movements. He served as editor of periodicals such as Swadeshabhimani, Rajabhartham, Pratidinam, and Mahatma. In the 1930s, he emerged as a pioneer in Malayalam short story literature. His first novel was Odayilninnu, and over his career, he published around eighty works. His novel Ayalkkar won the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award in 1964 and the Soviet Land Nehru Award in 1970. He also served as the president of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi and the Sahitya Pravarthaka Co-operative Society. For a period, he worked as a producer at All India Radio. He was also awarded the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Fellowship. He passed away on July 1, 1983.