The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Mundassery’s contributions hailed

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Thursday, Dec 18, 2008
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Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Mundassery’s contributions hailed

Staff Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Poet O.N.V. Kurup has described Joseph Mundassery, former Education Minister and literary critic, as a maker of modern Kerala.

He was speaking at a function got up for the inauguration of Prof. Joseph Mundassery Foundation in the city on Wednesday.

The first Education Minister of Kerala was also a towering figure in the field of Malayalam language and literature, Prof. Kurup said. An expert in Sanskrit and Malayalam, Mundassery was also equally passionate about English. “He imbibed whatever knowledge he could acquire from the three languages. But what made him different was how he applied the acquired knowledge,” he said.

According to him, setting up a foundation in memory of Mundassery, albeit belatedly, would help people learn more about his works and contribution to the State.

G. Balamohan Thampi, chairman, State Granthasala Society, who inaugurated the foundation, expressed concern over the deterioration of education as commercial venture. “Mundassery has always striven to inculcate noble values in the academic community. But unfortunately we have gone back on some of his cherished ideals,” he said.

Marxist ideologue P.G. Govinda Pillai who served along with Mundassery in the first Communist Ministry recalled a few of his intimate association with the leader. “By starting a foundation in memory of Mundassery, the city has rectified an anomaly,” he said.

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