Vaduvur Duraisami Iyengar

Vaduvur Duraisami Iyengar (1880 – 1942)^[1] was a Tamil writer of detective fiction in the 1940s.

He is one of the pioneer in detective story writing in Tamil language.^[2] His protagonist, Digambara Samiar, was a sanyasi or holy man on a mission to fight crime. Some of his works are made into movies such as Menaka (1935 film),^[3][4] Menaka (1955 film).^[5]

In 1920 he started a journal called "Manoranjini". The aim of the journal was to propagate the importance of women's education.^[6]

Works

His novels are

• Purna cantirotayam Part-1,2,3,4,5
• Kumbakonam vakkil Part-1,2,
• Maya Vinotha Parathesi Part-1,2,3,
• Menaka Part-1,2,
• Soundarya Kokilam Part-1,2,3,
• Mathana kalyani Part-1,2,3,
• Vidhyasagaram,
• Vasantha Mallika.

References

1. Muhkerjee, Meenakshi (2002). Early novels in India.
2. Guy, Randor (18 June 2015). "Played many parts". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 9 April 2017. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
3. Guy, Randor (4 January 2008). "Menaka 1935". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 28 September 2017. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
4. Guy, Randor (27 August 2010). "The making of 'Menaka'". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 12 September 2017. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
5. Guy, Randor (4 September 2011). "Menaka 1955". The Hindu. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
6. Thilakavathy, M. (2015). Women's Development and Social Conflicts in India. Chennai: MJP Publisher. p. 3. ISBN 978-81-8094-270-9.