Udupi Rajagopalacharya Ananthamurthy was a contemporary writer and critic in the Kannada language born in Thirtahalli Taluk and is considered as one of the pioneers of the Navya movement. He is the sixth person among eight recipients of the Jnanpith Award for the Kannada language, the highest literary honour conferred in India. In 1998, he received the Padma Bhushan award from the Government of India. He was the vice-chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi University in Kerala during the late 1980s. He was one of the finalists of Man Booker International Prize for the year 2013. He died of renal failure and cardiac arrest on 22 August 2014. 

December 21st, 1932 in Thirthahalli  /  Died:   Aug 22nd, 2014