M. P. Paul

Menacherry Poulose Paul (1904–1952) was an academic, educationist, scholar and

M. P. Paul was born on the

On losing the job, Paul rented a building opposite to St. Thomas College and started M. P. Paul's Tutorial College, the first parallel college in Kerala. Later, he started parallel colleges in Ernakulam and Kottayam and made an attempt to study law which he abandoned after passing the initial examination in 1933.^[2] The next year, he joined St. Berchmans College, Changanassery but left the job in 1936, again due to differences with the college management to go back to his parallel colleges which he managed in places like Thrissur, Kottayam, Ernakulam and Thiruvananthapuram;^[1] noted Malayalam writer, Muttathu Varkey, was a teacher in one of these colleges.^[3] He had a second stint at St. Berchmans College during 1944–46 but moved to Thiruvananthapuram in 1950 to join Mar Ivanios College as a professor. In 1952, he also made an attempt to revive his parallel college in Kottayam which had stopped functioning.^[2]

Paul married Mary in 1926 and the couple had a daughter, Rosy Thomas, who went on to become a noted writer in her own right; C. J. Thomas, the playwright and critic, was his son-in-law.^[4] he died on July 12, 1952, at the age of 48, at Thiruvananthapuram, succumbing to illnesses contracted during one of his trips to Kottayam. The Church refused to allow him a catholic burial due to his constant confrontations with them and his mortal remains were buried at a public cemetery in Pattoor, Thiruvananthapuram.^[5]

Legacy and honours

Paul, who attempted to study aesthetics as fundamental to the practice of literary criticism^[7] and define the literary genres of novel, short story and essays,^[8] is credited with introducing a modern approach to literary criticism in Malayalam literature.^[6] He was known to be instrumental in democratising the renaissance movement in Malayalam literature for taking its benefits to the masses.^[9] Along with a group of literary enthusiasts, he founded Sahitya Pravarthaka Sahakarana Sangham, a cooperative society for helping the writers to publish their works as well as getting them a decent remuneration during a time when even established writers like Vaikom Muhammad Basheer struggled to get adequate remuneration; Paul was its founder president.^[6] He published a weekly Navakeralam and a monthly Cherupushpam and served as the president of the Kerala Purogamana Saahitya Sanghatana for a brief period before distancing himself from the organization due to differences of opinion.^[10] He was active in theatre, too, and, in 1937, founded the Shakespeare Theatre.^[11]

Paul introduced western literature to Malayalam

M. P. Paul Charitable Trust, the eponymous charitable organization, has instituted M P Paul Award, an annual literary award for honouring literary excellence in Malayalam language studies and history.[6] The award carries a prize of ₹25,000, a citation and a plaque.^[16]

Bibliography

Essays

• Paul, M. P. (1930). Novel Sahithyam.
• Paul, M. P. (1932). Cherukatha Prastanam. Calicut: Poorna.
• Paul, M. P. (1953). Sahityavicharam. Kottayam: National Book Stall.
• Paul, M. P. (1954). Gadhyagathi. Sahithya Pravantaka Co: Sahithya Pravantaka Co. Archived from the original on 25 February 2019. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
• Paul, M. P. (1972). Kavyadharshanam. S.P.C.S.
• Paul, M. P. (2012). Soundarya Nireekshanam. Kottayam: National Book Stall.
• Complete Works of M. P. Paul (1,500 pages 2 vols)

Translations

• Moliere; M. P. Paul (translator) (1953). Lubdan. Kottayam: SPCS. {{cite book}}: |last2= has generic name (help)

Works on M. P. Paul

• Onakoor, Georage (1994). M. P. Paul - Kalapathinte Thiruseshippukal. DC Books.
  ASIN B007E4XNSG
  .
• M. Muraleedharan (2006). M. P. Paulinte Sahityavimarsanam. Vallathol Vidyapeedam.
• Rosy Thomas. Urangunna Simham.

References