Ramanujan, A. K., 1929-1993

Attipat Krishnaswami Ramanujan (1929-1993) was an interdisciplinary scholar and transnational figure who worked as a poet, translator, linguist, and folklorist.

Ramanujan received a BA and MA in English Literature from the University of Mysore, after which he taught at various universities in South India. In 1958, he received a graduate diploma in Theoretical Linguistics from Deccan University in Poona. He arrivied in the United States in 1959, and received a Ph.D. in Linguistics from Indiana University in 1963.

In 1962, Ramanujan became an assistant professor at the University of Chicago. At the university, he was instrumental in developing the South Asian Studies program and worked with the South Asian Languages and Civilization department, the Linguistics department, and the Committee on Social Thought. Although he remained affiliated with the University of Chicago for the rest of his life, Ramanujan also taught at other universities in the United States, including the University of Wisconsin, Harvard, the University of Michigan, University of California at Berkeley, and Carleton College.

Ramanujan translated the classical and modern literature of South Asia, as well as folk tales and songs. Much of his work focused on South Indian languages such as Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam. Published works include

A Flowering Tree and Other Oral Tales from India (1997); Folktales from India: Oral Tales from (1991);The Interior Landscape: Love Poems from a Classical Tamil Anthology (1967); Poems of Love and War: From the Eight Anthologies and the Ten Long Poems of Classical Tamil (1985) and Speaking of Siva (1973). As a poet, Ramanujan wrote primarily in English, often on transcultural themes. Collections of his own poetry include The Striders (1966); Hokkulalli Huvilla (1969); Relations (1971); Selected Poems (1976); and Second Sight (1986). Ramanujan also contributed to cultural theories of South Asia with works such as "Is there an Indian Way of Thinking?" (1990).

In 1976, the government of India awarded Ramanujan the title “Padma Sri.” In 1983, Ramanujan was appointed William E. Colvin Professor at the University of Chicago, and was also awarded a MacArthur Prize Fellowship.

Ramanujan died in Chicago on July 13, 1993.

From the guide to the Ramanujan, A.K. Papers, 1944-1995, (Special Collections Research Center University of Chicago Library 1100 East 57th Street Chicago, Illinois 60637 U.S.A.)