Ottaplakkal Neelakandan Velu Kurup

Born:27 May 1931

Died:13 February 2016

popularly known as O. N. V. Kurup or simply and endearingly O. N. V., was a Malayalam poet and lyricist from Kerala, India, who won the Jnanpith Award, the highest literary award in India for the year 2007.
He received the awards Padma Shri in 1998 and Padma Vibhushan in 2011, the fourth and second highest civilian honours from the Government of India.
In 2007 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by University of Kerala, Trivandrum.
He was known for his leftist leaning.
He was a leader of All India Students Federation (AISF).
He died on 13 February 2016 at KIMS hospital in Thiruvananthapuram due to age-related illnesses, aged 84.
He received the Jnanpith Award, India’s highest literary award, for the year 2007.
He was the fifth Jnanpith laureate from Kerala and the second Malayalam poet to win the prestigious award.
According to a statement by Bharatiya Jnanpith, the trust which presents the award, he began his career as a “progressive writer and matured into a humanist though he never gave up his commitment to socialist ideology”.
He was settled at Vazhuthacaud in Thiruvananthapuram, with his wife Sarojini, who was also his student in his early days.
His son Rajeev works with the Indian Railways Authority, and daughter Dr. Mayadevi is a noted gynaecologist in Aster Medicity, Cochin.
Malayalam playback singer Aparna Rajeev is his granddaughter.