Sangamesh Saundattimath

Dr.Sangamesh Saundattimath(born April 1, 1943) is a well known Kannada linguist. His main area of interest is Kannada Linguistics. His other areas of books include Kannada Research, Critics, Literature. His contribution to the Kannada Literature world is undisputed significant. He has so far published 78 books for his credit. More than 200 research articles have been published and 90 Research Papers have been presented at various seminars, workshops, Conferences etc. Number of his books have been prescribed as text-books for Post graduate and under graduate students of various Universities across the country.

Career

He has served as a professor of Kannada at Karnatak University Dharwad, Gulbarga University for over 33 years and after retirement, he was selected as Emeritus Professor by U.G.C. He was holding number of Administrative Positions at the time of his service such as Dean Faculty of Arts, Chairman - Institute of Kannada studies (Gulbarga University), Student welfare Officer (Gulbarga University), Special Officer (P.G.Centre, Raichur) etc. He is also, currently working as a resource person in Central Institute of Indian Languages.

Special achievements

Among his special achievements, participation in the first International Seminar on Ramayana and Mahabharata held at Kaulalumpur and presented a paper on Kannada Ramayanas. He was pioneer to research study on Gulbarga and Bidar dialects and discovered two endangered Dravidian languages namely Elava and Koracha of Hyderabad-Karnataka area. He has been editing and publishing a bimonthly research periodical namely "Samshodhana Vyasanga" in Kannada since 1989. Discovered the folk poet of North Karnataka namely Durudundeesh who wrote Yakshaganas. Pioneer preparation of Descriptive Dictionary of Vachana Literature etc. are to be mentioned.

Awards and recognition

Also, he has been awarded number of awards such as Karnatak State Folklore Academy, Dr.Chidananda award, Dr.Shamba Joshi award, Dr.Seddiyapu Krishnabhat award, Dr.M.Vishveshvraiah award, Rajyostava award by Gulbarga University, Karnataka State award, and P.K.Bhagoji award for his contribution to Kannada Language and research.

All India Dravidian Linguists Association (DLA) has awarded Hermann Gundert award to Dr.Sangamesh Saundattimath's Varnatmaka Vachana Padakosha (A Concise Encyclopedic Dictionary of Vachana Literature). Award was conferred at the All India Dravidian Linguists Conference held recently at Thiruvananthapuram. "Vachana Padakosha is first of its kind in Kannada, which comprises all the relevant information regarding Vachana literature.

References

http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/31/stories/2010103161500400.htm