Eminent historian KN Panikkar passes away

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Eminent historian and founding chairman of the Kerala Council of Historical Research, Dr KN Panikkar (89), passed away. He breathed his last at the Pattom SUT Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram. Panikkar, who adopted a Marxist approach to historical writing, was one of the leading historians in India.

Panikkar was born in 1936 to Krishnan Nair and Ichukutty Amma at Kandiyoor, Thykkat, Guruvayur. He completed his education from Chavakkad Board High School, Palakkad Government Victoria College and Rajasthan University. Panikkar later became a professor of history at Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi. He has served as the head of the department, the dean of the School of Social Sciences and the chairman of the Archives of Contemporary History.

Panikkar has also served as a visiting professor at foreign universities and was the Vice-Chancellor of the Kalady Sree Shankaracharya Sanskrit University. Panikkar was currently serving as the Chairman of the Kerala Higher Education Council.

Panikkar's oeuvre includes several books, including Culture and Consciousness in Modern India, British Diplomacy in North India, Culture, Ideology and Hegemony, Communal Threat and Secular Challenge, Contemporary India, Culture and Politics, etc.

In 2017, Panikkar was bestowed with honorary membership by the Kerala Sahitya Akademi.