Vinayaka Krishna Gokak ( V.K. Gokak): 1909-1992

V.K Gokak

Vinayaka Krishna Gokak was born on August 9, 1909 at Gokak. He had his primary and high school education in Savanur, and took B.A. in 1929 and M.A. in 1931. he began his career as an Assistant Professor in Fergusson College, Pune and later he became the principal of D.E.Society's Willington College, Sangli. In 1936, he done his advanced studies with distinction at Oxford university. In 1946, he went to Rajasthan and set up a college in its desert region and in 1949, with the reorganisation of Indian states, his services in Rajasthan got transferred to the Government of Bombay and he became the principal of Karnataka College, Kolhapur, in 1952. He appointed as the Vice-chancellor of the Bangalore University in 1966.


The main phase of his literary career and his life itself began in 1925 when he was swayed by the magnetic force of the towering figure of Kannada poetry D.R.Bendre. He given unparallelled contributions to poetry (including composition of the epic Bharatha Sindhurashmi), drama, criticism and various other forms of literature, apart from producing many scholarly works in English.

Honours and awards:

1. Presidentship of the 40th Kannada Sahitya Sammelana in 1958.

2. Honorary doctorates from the Karnatak University.

3. Honorary doctorates from the Pacific University of the USA.

4. Central Sahitya Akademi award for his 'Dyava Prithivi' in 1961.

5. Jnanpith award-for his Bharatha sindhu rashmi, in 1990.

Works:

1. Bharatha sinDhu rashmi

2. Samarasave jeevana

3. Oornanaaba

4. Abyudaya

5. Baaladeguladalli

6. Dhyava pruthvi

7. Samudra geethegaLu
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