A.K. Ramanujan Papers

Attipat Krishnaswami Ramanujan (1929-1993) was an interdisciplinary scholar and transnational figure who worked as a poet, translator, linguist, and folklorist.

Ramanujan received a BA and MA in English Literature from the University of Mysore, after which he taught at various universities in South India. In 1958, he received a graduate diploma in Theoretical Linguistics from Deccan University in Poona. He arrivied in the United States in 1959, and received a Ph.D. in Linguistics from Indiana University in 1963.

In 1962, Ramanujan became an assistant professor at the University of Chicago. At the university, he was instrumental in developing the South Asian Studies program and worked with the South Asian Languages and Civilization department, the Linguistics department, and the Committee on Social Thought.

Although he remained affiliated with the University of Chicago for the rest of his life, Ramanujan also taught at other universities in the United States, including the University of Wisconsin, Harvard, the University of Michigan, University of California at Berkeley, and Carleton College.

Ramanujan translated the classical and modern literature of South Asia, as well as folk tales and songs. Much of his work focused on South Indian languages such as Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam.

The A.K. Ramanujan Papers span
1944-1995 and contain correspondence, teaching materials, manuscripts,
publications, diaries, photographs, audio and video recordings, and
digital media.

Below: Three manuscripts from "A Flowering Tree: A Woman's Tale." Click to enlarge.