Overview

• Professor M.K. Sanoo died at the Amrita Institute in Kochi on August 2 at 5:35 p.m. after developing pulmonary edema and pneumonia following hip-fracture surgery
• Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan and other dignitaries paid respects during public viewings in Kochi before his cremation with full state honors at Ravipuram crematorium on August 3
• A retired Malayalam professor, he authored nearly 50 books of criticism, biography and essays and led institutions such as the Kerala Sahitya Akademi and Purogamana Kala Sahithya Sangham
• He entered politics in 1987 as a Left-backed independent and won the Ernakulam assembly seat, serving one term in the Kerala Legislative Assembly
• Throughout his life, Sanoo championed civic causes including the founding of the Cochin Cancer Research Centre and efforts to protect Kochi’s public spaces