Biography: Born as Xavier Nicholas Stanislaus, he later came to be called Xavier Stanislaus Thaninayagam (his last name is often written as two words Thani Nayagam) and also respectfully as "Thaninayagam Adigal". Thaninayagam was born in Kayts, Jaffna Peninsula in British Ceylon. His parents were Naganathan Stanislaus and Cecilia Bastiampillai. He chose the surname Thaninayagam (literally "lone hero") after becoming a Roman Catholic priest. During 1920-22, he studied at St.Patrick’s College, Jaffna. In 1934 he obtained his BA in Philosophy from St. Bernard's seminary, Colombo. Though he was a Tamil by birth, he did not learn the literary language until he was much older. During his younger days, he learnt and became fluent in many European languages such as English, Latin, Italian, French, German, Spanish and Portuguese. He first learned Literary Tamil while working as a teacher in the St. Theresa convent, Vadakkankulam in the Tirunelveli District. In 1945, he enrolled in the Annamalai University to study Tamil literature. His Masters thesis was on Sangam literature and was titled "Nature in ancient Tamil Poetry". After finishing his studies, he embarked on a world-wide tour to promote Tamil language and literature. He lectured on these subjects in Japan, Chile, Brazil, Peru, Mexico, Ecuador and America. During his tour, he searched the European libraries for medieval Tamil manuscripts and identified several early Tamil printed books. Cartilha (1556), Tambiran Vanakkam (1578), Kirisitiani Vanakkam (1579) and the first Tamil-Portuguese dictionary, compiled by Antem da Proenҫa, to list just a few of them. He founded a quarterly academic journal called Tamil Studies and ran it till 1966. During 1961-66, he served as the Dean, Faculty of Arts and as head of the Indian studies department at the University of Malaya.
Xavier Thaninayagam In 1964, Thaninayagam along with Kamil Zvelebil and V. I. Subramaniam convened a meeting of Tamil scholars attending the Oriental scholars conference at New Delhi and formed the International Association for Tamil Research (IATR). He was also instrumental in organising the first World Tamil Conference at Kualalampur in 1966. IATR went on to become the primary body directing research in all fields related to Tamil and has since organised seven more such conferences. Leaving Malaysia in 1969, Thaninayagam taught at the universities of Paris and Naples before retiring and returning home to Sri Lanka. Thaninayagam died in 1980. The University of Jaffna conferred an honorary doctorate on him after his death.[1][2][3][4] In this short article, it is difficult to summarize all the accomplishments of this eminent scholar. The reader is referred to an article in the Journal of Tamil Studies, Vol. 18 1980, which lists many of his scholarly works as well as his other activities that sought to enlighten the world about the beauty and antiquity of the Tamil language and its literature. Many sources refer to him as an ‘Ambassador’ for Tamil, which epitomizes many of his activities—as the founder of journals, the organizer of international research societies (such as the IATR) and of international conferences, the founder of departments devoted to Indian Studies and Tamil studies, and as a roving ambassador, visiting centers of linguistics and classical studies around the world, enlightening scholars who were ignorant of the traditions of the Tamil language. He also was the discoverer of long-lost early grammars and literary studies published in Tamil script (the first Indian language to be set in cold type) which he found in libraries
in Italy and Portugal. Then he was off to seek out long-lost Tamil émigrés in colonies in the Caribbean and elsewhere. The label ‘ambassador’ fit him well, since he was affable, well-spoken, a friend to all, very diplomatic, and persuasive. Those of us who had a good fortune to attend some of the international conferences organized by the IATR remember him dispatching a group of us on a bus to go to visit an important site during the first international (IATR) world conference on Tamil, in Malaysia, and as he stepped backward off the bus, fell into one of those deep drainage ditches one finds on the Malay peninsula, designed to take away the rains from the torrential “Sumatra” storms that occur. But he emerged from this deep drain unscathed, and smiled jubilantly as he waved us on our way.
Harold F. Schiffman
R
everend Xavier S. Thani Nayagam (Tamil: Nrtpah; jdpehafk;, 12 August 1913 - 1 September 1980) was a Tamil scholar known for setting up the International Association for Tamil Research (IATR) and organising the first World Tamil Conference. He is praised as the "Roving Ambassador for Tamil".
References: 1. Amudhan Adigal. "The roving Ambassador of Tamil". The Hindu. Retrieved 8 February 2011. 2. Rev. Fr. Thamil Nesan. "Making Tamil a classical language: Fr. Thaninayagam’s contribution". The Island. Retrieved 8 February 2011. 3. "Sri Lankan Tamill Scholars feel themselves being ignored by WCTC organisers". Asian Tribune. Retrieved 8 February 2011. 4. e. KUNfrghz;bad;. “jkpoha;tpDf;F tpj;jpl;l jdpehafk; mbfshu;". Dina Mani. Retrieved 8 February 2011. Harold F. Schiffman is Professor Emeritus, Dravidian Linguistics and Culture, Dept. of South Asia Studies at the University of Pennsylvania