Dr. A. Thasarathan

Dr. A. Thasarathan was born during the Thaipusam festival in Kurumpalaapperi, Tirunelveli district. He completed his early education in Pavoorchatram, graduated from St. John's College, Palayamkottai, and earned his M.A. in Tamil from S.T. Hindu College, Nagercoil, in 1973. In the first year of his M.A. program, he received the Abraham Arulappanar Award. In the second year, he graduated as the class topper with first-class honors and was awarded the Sastangutty Pillai Gold Medal.

A. Thasarathan

From 1974 to 1977, he pursued his doctorate in the Tamil Department at the University of Kerala. In 1975, he also obtained a diploma in linguistics from S.T. Hindu College. In 1978, the Dravidian Linguistics Association in Thiruvananthapuram sent him to work as a lecturer in the Department of Indology at the University of Cologne in Germany. Later that year, he studied linguistics and relational grammar at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, under the guidance of renowned British Indologist John Ralston Marr.

After returning to India in 1979, he founded International Printers and Publishers. In 1980, he joined the Dravidian Linguistics Institute as a junior researcher and later transitioned to their New Delhi office. In 1981, he served as a representative for the book publishing house Asian Educational Services in New Delhi. By 1982, he had advanced to the role of editor and publisher at International Printers.

The University of Kerala awarded him a doctorate for his thesis titled Syntactical Structures of 20th Century Tamil Poems. He subsequently worked as a researcher at the Institute of Dravidian Linguistics in Thiruvananthapuram from 1982 to 1984. From 1984 to 1994, he served as an Assistant Professor of Tamil and Head of the Department of Palm Leaf Manuscripts at the Institute of Asian Studies in Chennai. During his tenure, he successfully published numerous palm leaf manuscripts and compiled comprehensive palm leaf manuscript catalogues.

From 1996 to 1997, he served as a Senior Researcher at the Institute of Dravidian Linguistics in Chennai. He then worked as a Special Researcher at the International Institute of Tamil Studies in Chennai from 1998 to 2000. Between 2003 and 2006, he held the position of Project Education Officer. Since 2006, he has been actively involved in publishing numerous books through the institute's publishing division.

He has authored numerous research papers in both English and Tamil, which he has presented at various international and local conferences. These papers have been published in respected journals and books. Additionally, he has edited and published over 25 printed books, along with many other works, including a significant number of Tamil ballads.