Veteran Tamil educationist "Sokkan" dies

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 December 2004, 16:41 GMT]
Mr. Kanthapachettiyar Sokkalingam fondly called as "Sokkan" passed away peacefully at the age of seventy-seven Friday afternoon in Jaffna. Jaffna University recently conferred Honorary Doctorate of Literature on him for his invaluable services he rendered to the development of Tamil literature and Tamil language for more than four decades.

Mr.Sokkan was a native of Nayanmarkaddu, a suburb in Nallur division in Jaffna since his birth. He was one of the advisors of the Thamileelam Education Development Board.



Sokkan entered the teaching profession as a trained teacher and passed the Diploma Course in Tamil in the Peradeniya University and became Vidwan.

He obtained MA degree in Peradeniya University by submitting a thesis on the history of ''Eelathu Tamil Nadakathurai ''.

He was the author of several Tamil textbooks on Tamil grammar especially written for students. He wrote a number of short stories, plays, and poems in Tamil and earned a permanent place in the hearts of Tamil readers. The Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) conferred on him the award '' Sahithya Ratna'' recognising his services to his mother tongue and its literature.