L. Gundappa M.A. (1903-1986) was professor of Kannada literature in Bangalore University and a pioneer in the Kannada literature revival, inspired by his mentor, B. M. Srikantaiah. He was an accomplished poet and writer who introduced Kannada readers to world literature by translating classics from ancient Kannada and Classic Tamil to modern Kannada. He translated short stories of Tolstoy from English, and won a gold medal for the translation of a poem by Matthew Arnold (titled Sohrab and Rustum) to Kannada. He worked on the first dictionary from English to Kannada. He wrote a definitive book on the art of translation called Kannadi Seyve (mirroring). He was honored by both the Kannada and Tamil people for his service to literature. Early education Gundappa was born on 8 January 1903 to Chennamma and Lingannayya, in the small south Indian village Matighatta. His early childhood education was in historical Belur, Karnataka where he assimilated a meticulous and in-depth education in Sanskrit and the Vedas. He had mastered Sanskrit by the time he completed his middle school education. Seeking a proper high school education, Gundappa moved to Chikmagalur. There, the young Gundappa got noticed for his original devotional poems in Sanskrit that he composed and presented at a welcoming ceremony for Abhinava Vidya Theertha Swami, the religious leader (pontiff) of the Sringeri Sharada Peetham. The Swami declared that a small monthly stipend would be awarded to support Gundappa's college education. The Mysore Maharaja's College where Gundappa studied was a fertile ground of intellectuals working for India's rising from oppression by the British Raj. Movements were being born at the universities urging Indians to rediscover their own heritage hereto neglected under foreign rule. Several of the leaders were literary giants of the day who were faculty members at the university including B.M.Sri (Gundappa's mentor), T.S. Venkataiah, and A.R. Krishnashastry. Gundappa was drawn to this cause of rediscovering the pride in Indian culture and literature. Urged by his mentor to learn another Indian language than his mother tongue Kannada, Gundappa chose Tamil as a part of the curriculum for a master's degree in languages. He set out to serve the Kannada people by re-introducing them to their own glorious heritage by writing works of literature from Sanskrit, Tamil, and English (selecting world literature translated to English by others) by way of meticulous translations to Kannada that were to be his life's work. Family life Gundappa