MGS remembered by colleagues and students

Scholars and students gather in Kozhikode to honor the late historian M.G.S. Narayanan, sharing memories and tributes.

Scholars and teachers who had been in the close circle of M.G.S. Narayanan, who passed away recently, as well as some of his students got together in Kozhikode on Wednesday (May 7, 2025) to commemorate the renowned historian.

The event organised by the MGS History Foundation saw the participation of several noted personalities, including former Calicut University Vice-Chancellor K.K.N. Kurup, historian M.R. Raghava Warrier, and literary critic M.M. Basheer.

Mr Kurup said that MGS was first his teacher and later his colleague at the university, and he recalled the days they lived together while conducting research on manuscripts at Ezhimala. He recited his poem on MGS, a framed copy of which he handed over to Vinaya, daughter of the late historian.

Prof. Warrier recalled the days when he travelled on foot with MGS to various places across Kerala to locate manuscripts and stone carvings. ‘I am blessed to have had the opportunity to accompany him,’ he said.

Literary critic and former Head of the Department of Malayalam at Calicut University M.M. Basheer said MGS had never discussed history with him. Instead, all their conversations were about literature, especially poetry. Recalling that MGS was a prolific reader of poetry and a poet himself, Mr. Basheer added that poet Edasseri Govindan Nair had chosen MGS to write the prologue for his anthology of poems because of the latter’s deep knowledge of the subject.

C. Vasudevan Unni, former Principal of Zamorin’s Guruvayurappan College where MGS had worked during the early days of his career, C. Rajendran, V.T. Padmaja, and T.R. Venugopal, all colleagues from Calicut University, and his student Mubarak Pasha, Vice-Chancellor of Sreenarayana Guru Open University, were the other speakers at the event.