C Narayana Reddy Biography

Cingireddi Narayana Reddy was an Indian Telugu and Urdu poet and writer. Reddy had produced over eighty literary works including poems, prose-plays, lyrical plays, translations, and ghazals.

He won several awards for his literary work which includes the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1973 for his poetry collection Mantalu Manavudu, the Jnanpith Award in 1988 and was conferred with the Sahitya Akademi fellowship in 2014, the highest honour of the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters. Reddy was also awarded an honorary Kala Prapoorna by Andhra University in 1978, the Raja-Lakshmi Award by the Sri Raja-Lakshmi Foundation in 1988.

The Government of India honoured him with the second and third highest civilian awards, Padma Shri (1977) and Padma Bhushan (1992). Reddy was nominated to the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian Parliament, in August 1997.

Personal life
 
Narayana Reddy was born on 29 July 1931 in Hanumajipet in Karimnagar district, Hyderabad state to a Telugu family of Malla Reddy and Buchamma. His father was a farmer and his mother was a house wife. After completing his higher secondary education, he went on to study at the Osmania University, Hyderabad in 1949. Reddy received his Master of Arts degree in 1954 and become a college lecturer in 1955. He received Ph.D. in 1962 and become a Professor in 1976.

Naryana Reddy married Suseela and with her had four daughters. Reddy instituted an award named after his wife which is presented annually to the female writers.

Death

Reddy developed health complication and complained of chest pain and was shifted to the Care Hospital. He died on 12 June 2017 at the age of 85.