Kuvempu

Kuvempu
Kuvempu in the 1940s
Born	Kuppalli Venkatappa Puttappa (1904-12-29)29 December 1904 Hirekodige, Koppa, Chikmagalur, Kingdom of Mysore (now in Karnataka)[1]
Died	11 November 1994(1994-11-11) (aged 89) Mysore, Karnataka, India
Pen name	Kuvempu
Occupation	Poet, novelist, playwright, academic
Language	Kannada
Genre	Fiction, drama
Literary movement	Navodaya
Notable awards	Karnataka Ratna (1992) Padma Vibhushan (1988) Jnanapith Award (1967) Padma Bhushan (1958) Sahitya Akademi Award (1955)[2]
Spouse	Hemavathi ​ (m. 1937⁠–⁠1994)​
Children	4, including Poornachandra Tejaswi

Kuppalli Venkatappa Puttappa (29 December 1904 – 11 November 1994),^[3] popularly known by his pen name Kuvempu// ^ⓘ, was an Indian poet, playwright, novelist and critic. He is widely regarded as the greatest Kannada poet of the 20th century.^{[4][5][6][7][3][8]} He was the first Kannada writer to receive the Jnanpith Award.^[9]

Kuvempu studied at Mysuru University in the 1920s, taught there for nearly three decades and served as its vice-chancellor from 1956 to 1960. He initiated education in Kannada as the language medium. For his contributions to Kannada Literature, the Government of Karnataka decorated him with the honorific Rashtrakavi ("National Poet") in 1964 and Karnataka Ratna ("The Gem of Karnataka") in 1992. He was conferred the Padma Vibhushan by the Government of India in 1988. He penned the Karnataka State Anthem Jaya Bharata Jananiya Tanujate.