M. N. Vijayan

Vijayan became a mentor for many writers, leftist politicians and journalists. He was a critic of NGOs like Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad which polluted the sensibilities of Malayalees. Vijayan died while he was addressing a press conference in Thrissur, explaining how non- governmentally funded organisations like Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad function in Kerala, camouflaging their imperialist agenda by wearing a leftist mask. Parishath and its activities lost credibility when Ernakulam Chief Judicial Magistrate dismissed the defamation case filed against Paatom, a magazine which exposed the fishy trails of such organisations. "You are selling your credibility... It is hijacking democracy ...", Vijayan said about Parishath and its supporters in the last press conference. Thrissur Current Books and Akam Samithi Thalassey published the early works of M.N.Vijayan. Thrissur Current Books published the Complete Works of M.N. Vijayan in ten volumes under different titles, like literature, politics, culture, interviews, speeches, biography, memoirs, etc. The first M.N.Vijayan library was inaugurated at Kannur. Govt. Brennen College Malayalam department has constituted the M.N.Vijayan endowment in 2010 for outstanding students of Malayalam literature.

Vijayan was married to Sharada and the couple had a son, V. S. Anilkumar, a writer and an academic working at Kannur University and two daughters, Sujatha Balachandran, a medical professional and Sunitha Rajagopal. He suffered a massive heart attack during a press conference at Thrissur Press Club on 3 October 2007 and though he was taken to Amala Institute of Medical Sciences, he died the same day, at the age of 77. His biography, written by K. Balakrishnan, was published by Kerala Bhasha Institute in 2015, on the 8th anniversary of Vijayan's death.

Though not a qualified medical practitioner, Vijayan worked for many years as a pro bono counsellor, using Freudian techniques. Many writers, intellectuals, journalists and political activists have described him as an intellectual mentor. The November 2007 issue of Samayam Masika was devoted to articles by a variety of public figures about Vijayan and his influence, both on them personally and upon others, including M. T. Vasudevan Nair (writer, film director, Jnanpith Award winner), N. Prabhakaran (writer, academic), Mohanan Cherukadu (writer), Appukkuttan Vallikkunnu (journalist), P. Surendran (writer), Dr. Abdul Azeez (Doctor), Kunhappa Pattanoor (poet), Umesh Babu K.C. (Poet and political activist), A. V. Pavitran (writer), Anil Kumar A. V. (journalist, political activist), Vatsalan Vatuseeri (writer), Prabhakaran Pazhassi (writer, Professor), Choorayi Chandran (Political activist, Educationalist), N. Shasidharan (writer).

He was removed as editor of Deshabhimani when leaders of the provincial Communist Party felt he did not adhere to the party line. He opposed the policy of some state level leaders and other leftist intellectuals to accept foreign funding of political work. He was also for a time the editor of the controversial periodical Padom, notably criticising a Kerala state government program called People's Campaign for Decentralised Planning (People's Plan) and its creator Thomas Isaac. Vijayan and Professor Sudheesh's articles in Padom against the "people's plan", a program aimed at decentralisation of power, became a controversial issue. Later a Kerala court ruled that the allegations of foreign funding of the Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad (KSSP) had been proven by Sudheesh and Vijayan. Vijayan and Sudheesh had started Paatom in 2000, and started to attack on CPI(M)'s social democratic stands and attitude towards World Bank and IMF. He resigned from Purogamana Kala Sahithya Sangham as a result of a disagreement with M. A. Baby, then in charge of the CPI(M).

From 1960 to 1999 M. N. Vijayan stayed at Dharmadam, Thalassery. Vijayan worked as the editor of the cultural weekly Deshabhimani owned by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)). He was President of Purogamana Kala Sahitya Sangham (Progressive Association for Art and Letters) and Adhinivesha Prathirodha Samithi (Council for Resisting Imperialist Globalisation), a leftist think-tank based in Kerala which collaborated with the CPI(M).

Moolayil Narayana Menon Vijayan, popularly known as Vijayan Mash (8 June 1930 – 3 October 2007) was an Indian academic, orator, columnist and writer of Malayalam literature. Known for his leftist ideals and oratorical skills, Vijayan was the president of the Purogamana Kala Sahitya Sangham (Progressive Association for Art and Letters) and served as the editor of Deshabhimani. He published a number of books of which Chithayile Velicham (The Light in the Pyre) received the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Literary Criticism in 1982.

M. N. Vijayan was born on 8 June 1930 to Pathiyasseril Narayana Menon and Mooliyil Kochammu Amma at Lokamaleshwaram, a small village near Kodungallur in Thrissur district of the south Indian state of Kerala. His schooling was at Pathinettarayalam Lower Primary School and Government Boys High School Kodungallur after which he did his graduate and post-graduate studies at Maharaja's College, Ernakulam to earn a master's degree in Malayalam literature from the University of Madras. He also studied law at the Government Law College, Ernakulam and was associated with the Students Federation of India during his college days. He started his career in 1952 as a lecturer at The New College, Chennai and later moved to University College, Thiruvananthapuram, but his stay at Thiruvananthapuram was short. In 1960, he joined Brennen College, Thalassery as a member of faculty at its department of Malayalam and served the institution until his retirement from service in 1985.