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University of Calicut,
Edapally - Panvel Hwy, Thenhipalam,
Kerala 673635, India
K. Damodaran (1912–1976) was a Marxist writer, intellectual and early leader of the Communist Party from Malabar. He organized various struggles of labourers in Malabar.
Background
Damodaran was born in 1912 to Kizhakkiniyakath Thuppan Nampoothiri and Keezhedathu Narayani Amma. His was a wealthy Nayar family known as ‘Kizhedath’ in Porur Desam of Tirur village in the Malappuram district. He received primary education at Mattayi Primary School in Tirurangadi and Samoothiri College in Kozhikode. In 1931, he was arrested for his participation in the non-cooperation movement. While incarcerated for 23 months, in Coimbatore, he studied Tamil and Hindi. After he was released in 1935, he went to learn Sanskrit at Vishwa Vidyalaya, situated in Kashi and led by Acharya Narendra Dev. During his time in Kashi, he studied the Urdu and Bengali languages as well.
He returned to Kerala in 1937 and joined the Kerala Socialist Party. Further, he worked alongside its leader, P. Krishna Pilla. In 1951, he was chosen as the Taluk secretary of the Communist Party’s Malabar unit committee. He organized workers in the Coir and Beedi industries and worked tirelessly for the rights of workers in Clay tile manufacturing companies in Feroke. In 1938, he was elected as the general secretary of the K.P.C.C. In 1940, he became a member of A.I.C.C. (All India Congress Committee). In 1960, he was elected to the central executive committee of the party. He became the editor of the Navayugam weekly, which served as a mouthpiece of the Kerala State Council of the Communist Party of India. He joined the Rajya Sabha in 1964 and travelled to many Asian and European countries, including Communist nations. Later, he attended Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi as part of an ICHR fellowship.
He was the earliest communist writer in Kerala.He translated many works from Russian to Malayalam.
Pattabakki, one of his renowned works, was the first political drama to be staged in Kerala. It helped popularize the communist idea among the locals. Among his other famous works are Rakthpanam, Indiayude Aathmaav (The Soul of India), which spoke of Indian culture, and “Philosophy from the Ancient Times.”
He became ill during his research at JNU and died on July 3, 1976, at the Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi.
