O.N.V Kurup was born to O. N. Krishna Kurup and K. Lakshmikutty Amma, on 27 May 1931 at Chavara, Kollam in Kerala. He lost his father when he was eight. His childhood days were spent in Chavara where he attended the government school. After graduating with a bachelor's degree in Economics from SN College, Kollam, he moved to Thiruvananthapuram city where he joined Travancore University and pursued Master of Arts in Malayalam literature. O.N.V. was a lecturer at Maharajas College – Ernakulam, University College – Trivandrum, Arts and Science College – Kozhikode, and Brennen College – Thalassery. He joined Government Women's College – Trivandrum as the Head of Malayalam Department. He was also a visiting professor at Calicut University. He retired from service in 1986. He received the Jnanpith Award, India's highest literary award, for the year 2007. He was the fifth Jnanpith laureate from Kerala and the second Malayalam poet to win the prestigious award. According to a statement by Bharatiya Jnanpith, the trust which presents the award, Kurup began his career as a "progressive writer and matured into a humanist though he never gave up his commitment to socialist ideology". He was settled at Vazhuthacaud in Thiruvananthapuram, with his wife Sarojini, who was also his student in his early days. His son Rajeev works with the Indian Railways Authority, and daughter Dr. Mayadevi is a noted gynaecologist in Aster Medicity, Cochin. Malayalam playback singer Aparna Rajeev is his granddaughter.
Poetry
O. N. V.'s first published poem was 'Munnottu' which appeared in a local weekly in 1946. His first poetry collection, Porutunna Soundaryam, came out in 1949. He published a book named Daahikunna Paanapaathram which was a collection of his early poems during 1946–1956.
Poetic works
*Collection of 1500 songs. **Poems for children
Prose list
Lyricist
In addition to the valuable contributions he had given to the Malayalam literature, he was one of the leading lyricists in Malayalam film/drama/album industry. He was the part of many dramas by Kerala People's Arts Club which has a major remark in the revolutionary movements of Kerala. Kalam Marunnu was his first film which was also the first film by the famous Malayalam composer G. Devarajan. Since then he has been active in film until his death and was honoured with one national award and fourteen state awards. He has penned about 1000 songs in about 232 films and numerous songs for plays and albums. His partnerships with Salil Chowdhury and M. B. Sreenivasan were so popular in Malayalam film industry. He has made many hit songs with popular music directors, including G. Devarajan, Raveendran, V. Dakshinamoorthy, M. S. Baburaj, M. K. Arjunan, K. Raghavan, Shyam, Johnson, Bombay Ravi, Mohan Sithara, M. G. Radhakrishnan, S. P. Venkatesh, Ouseppachan, Vidhyadharan and M. Jayachandran.
Awards
Civilian honours
2011 – Padma Vibhushan
2007 – Honorary Doctorate by University of Kerala
1998 – Padma Shri
Literary awards
O. N. V. has won numerous awards for his literary works.
Indian delegate to the CISAC World Conference held in Berlin.
Death
ONV Kurup died on 13 February 2016, due to age-related ailments at KIMS Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram. He was 84. He was cremated with full state honours at Thycaud Santhikavadam crematorium, which was named by him. At the time of his cremation, 84 singers representing the 84 years of his life, led by K. J. Yesudas, paid homage to him by singing his poems and songs. He is survived by his wife, children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
