Mysuru: Prof. G.R. Thippeswamy, retired Professor, Kuvempu Institute of Kannada Studies (KIKS), University of Mysore, passed away yesterday while delivering a lecture.

He was delivering a talk at Kuvempu Trust’s Sri Vivekananda PU College auditorium organised in the memory of B.M. Shri.

The 63-year-old collapsed following a heart attack. He was immediately taken to the nearby Chandrakala Hospital (which is hardly a few metres from the spot) but died on the way.

The body was kept at his residence in Roopa Nagar for the public to pay their respects.

Hundreds of students, relatives and a vast circle of academic fraternity and friends visited his home and many were found in tears.

KIKS Director Prof. Priti Srimandar Kumar, Kannada Sahitya Academy President Prof. Aravind Malgatti, Littérateur Prof. Hanur Krishnamurthy, MyLAC Chairman H.A. Venkatesh and others expressed their condolence.

Prof. Thippeswamy hailed from Gujjanadu village in Pavagada taluk of Tumakuru district and was working in Government First Grade College. In 1999, he joined KIKS as a Reader and retired from there. He was a popular critic and has also done memorable work in the field of folklore. He was a recipient of several awards.

Prof. Thippeswamy leaves behind his wife Kamalavani, daughters Sindhu and Bindu, and host of relatives and friends.

Last rites will be held today at his native Gujjagadu village in Tumakuru district.

It may be recalled that Prof. Polanki Ramamurthy, a Professor in the Department of English, UoM, had passed away in the early 1990s at Dhvanyaloka, on Bogadi Road, while delivering a talk on the topic “Death and King’s Horsemen” a play written by Nobe Laureate Wole Soyinka.