Biography of M. Venkatesh Iyengar

(1891- 1986)

M. Venkatesh Iyengar, also known as Maasti, was a revolutionary novelist in Kannada language. In 1983, he was honoured with the Jnanpith award for his work Chikkavir Rajendra'.

M. Venkatesh Iyengar was born in 1891 in a middle-class family in Kolar district. His mother tongue was Tamil. He was very good in studies and in 1914 he passed the coveted Administrative Services Examination. Later he reached up to the post of Chief Secretary but after that, he took voluntary retirement. As an officer in Mysore state, he got familiar with both urban and rural life, which is quite visible in his writings.

His writings present characters from Royal persons to labourers, farmers, pious persons and even crooks. He wrote nearly 120 books, which include 18 plays, 30 novels, 46 biographies, 17 poems and 17 collections of stories. His name ranks equal to that of Premchand and Sharat Chandra in the field of Indian literature. He died in 1986.