Sukumar Azhikode, Indian writer, critic, and orator, died from cancer he was 85.

Sukumar Azhikode was an Indian writer, critic and orator, acknowledged for his contributions to Malayalam language and insights on Indian philosophy died from cancer he was 85..^[1] He was a scholar in Sanskrit, Malayalam, and English languages.^[2]

^{(26 May 1926 – 24 January 2012)}

Azhikode was a bachelor and lived in Eravimangalam near Thrissur, Kerala state. He died on 24 January 2012 at the age of 85 at Amala Institute of Medical Sciences, in Thrissur due to cancer.

Awards

Azhikode's most famous work is Tatvamasi (1984, Malayalam), a book on Indian Philosophy, Vedas and Upanishads. Thathvamasi won twelve awards, including the Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award, Kerala Sahithya Akademi Award, Vayalar Award and the Rajaji Award.
Azhikode had served as chairman of the National Book Trust (NBT) and as member of the executive councils of Kerala and Kendra Sahitya academy.^{[citation needed]}
He did not confine himself to scholastic themes and expressed his views and concerns on a wide range of topics of contemporary concerns including the day-to-day politics and politicians.^{[citation needed]}
A Gandhian till the end of his life, Azhikode was close to the Indian National Congress in his early life and in the 1960s^[vague] unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha polls as its candidate. But later, he distanced himself from the Congress and moved close to the Left camp without compromising on his Gandhian convictions and the Nehruvian vision of a liberal and just social order.^{[citation needed]}
Azhikode headed the Malayalam department of Calicut University and later retired as its pro-vice chancellor.^{[citation needed]}
He was involved a legal tiff with cine actor Mohanlal following heated exchanges in the backdrop of the ban on actor Thilakan as a fallout of a feud in the Malayalam filmdom.^{[citation needed]} Azhikode then came to defend Thilakan incurring the wrath of superstars. After Azheekode fell ill, a truce was worked out between the writer and the actor to withdraw the defamation case.^{[citation needed]}
A recipient of literary honours including the Kendra Sahitya Academy award.^{[citation needed]} In January 2007, Azhikode refused to accept the Padma Shri conferred on him stating that Such honours are against the Constitution. "The Constitution says everyone should be treated as equal. Giving such honours at different levels, the State discriminates between people. I see the Padma Shri conferred on me as an opportunity to expose this discrimination."^[3]
He also won the Bahrain Keraleeya Samajam Sahithya Puraskaram lifetime achievement award.^{[citation needed]}

Death

Azhikode died on 24 January 2012, at Amala Institute of Medical Sciences in Thrissur. He was suffering from cancer and had been hospitalized since 7 December 2011.^[4] He was 85 years old.

Major works

His concerns were wide and touched upon progressive literature (Purogamanasahityavum Mattum), Gandhism (Mahatmavinte Margam), Kumaran Asan (Aasaante Seethaakavyam), the teachings of Sree Narayana Guru (Guruvinte Dukham) and literary aesthetics (Sankara Kurup Vimarshikkapedunnu)

• Aasaante Seethaakaavyam (Asan's Sita Kavya)
• Ramananum Malayalakavitayum (Ramanan and Malayalam Poetry)
• Shankarakkuruppu Vimarshikkappedunnu (Sankara Kurup Critiqued)
• Mahatmavinte Margam (Way of the Mahatma)
• Purogamanasahityavum Mattum (Modern Literature and Others)
• Malayala Sahityavimarsanam (Criticism of Malayalam Literature)
• Vayanayute Swargattil (In the Paradise of Reading)
• Tatvamasi
• Malayala Sahitya Patanangal (Studies on Malayalam Literature)
• Tatvavum Manushyanum (Philosophy and Humans)
• Khandanavum Mandanavum (Destructive Criticism and Constructive Criticism)
• Entinu Bharatadare
• Azhikodinte Prabhashanangal (Speeches of Azhikode)
• Azhikodinte Falitangal (Jokes of Azhikode)
• Guruvinte Dukham (Sorrow of the Teacher)
• Aakasam Nashtapetunna India (India Losing Horizon)
• Pathakal Kazhchakal (Routes and Sights)
• Mahakavi Ulloor (The Great Poet Ulloor)

To see more of who died in 2011 click here

Slacker, British electronic music producer

Slacker, whose real name was Shem McCauley, was an electronic music house, hip hop and R&B producer. He owned Jukebox in the Sky record label. He was also known under the names "Head Honcho", "Ramp" and "DJ Streets Ahead". Slacker, who was based in England, UK, had released records on many labels including XL Recordings, Loaded Records, and Perfecto Records. Shem McCauley died in Bangkok, Thailand in January 2012.^[1][2]

Venues

Slacker played at the following venues, among others:^{[citation needed]}

• Continental DJ Club, Mexico City
• Empire, Miami
• Fierce, Hong Kong
• Groovejet, Miami
• Home, Lima
• Ministry of Sound, London
• Nocturnal, Miami

Ultra 2000(Global Beach) Sasha and Digweed and Friends at Space(2006).

• Orbit, Lima, Peru
• Sikamikanco, Oslo
• Slinky, Bournemouth
• Supanova, Derby, UK
• Stereo nightclub, Montreal, Canada

Tracks

Over 50, including

• Feel Space (first single)
• Flying (second single)
• Scared (third single)
• Your Face
• Looky Thing

Album

Start A New Life

Notable collaborators

• Norman Cook (aka Fatboy Slim)
• Carl Cox, DJ
• Tim Westwood, BBC Radio 1 DJ, England.
• The Prodigy

To see more of who died in 2011 click here

Gerhard Schröder, German television executive, died he was 90.

Gerhard Schröder was a German radio and television executive died he was 90..

(March 3, 1921 – January 23, 2012^[1])

Schröder was born in Bad Wildungen and studied law and political economics in Marburg. After his state examination he worked in the Lower Saxony Ministry of Culture, among other roles as leader of the Art and Culture Department.
From 1961 to 1973 he was director of the Norddeutscher Rundfunk, having been a member of the governing body for six years. As the head of NDR, in 1970/71 he served as chairman of the ARD.
In 1974 he switched to director of Radio Bremen, where he served until 1985. In his time there, among other things, the regional television news magazine Buten un binnen was launched in 1980.



To see more of who died in 2011 click here

Bingham Ray, American independent film executive, died from complications from strokes he was 57.

Bingham Ray  was an American independent film executive  died from complications from strokes he was 57.. He was a co-founder of indie film distributor October Films and president of United Artists from 2001 to 2004. At the time of his death, he was executive director of the San Francisco Film Society.^[1][2]

^{(1 October 1954 – 23 January 2012)}

As noted by the Independent Feature Project's Gotham Independent Film Awards, "New to the Gotham Awards this year [2012] is the Bingham Ray Award, an award bestowed upon an emerging filmmaker whose work exemplifies a distinctive creative vision and stylistic adventurousness that stands apart from the mainstream and warrants championing. The goal is to bring additional attention to new artists whose work could be seen as conceivably joining the ranks of filmmakers championed by industry veteran Bingham Ray, who died in January."^[3]

Oden Roberts, Director and Writer, "A Fighting Season" was awarded the SFFS KRF grant by Bingham in December of 2011.
Benh Zeitlin, director and co-writer of Beasts of the Southern Wild, was the inaugural recipient of the Bingham Ray Award.^[4]



To see more of who died in 2011 click here

Miloš Pojar, Czech author and diplomat, died he was 71.

Miloš Pojar  was a Czech (and Czechoslovak prior to 1993) historian, writer and diplomat died he was 71.. Pojar oversaw the establishment of diplomatic relations between the former Czechoslovakia and Israel following the Velvet Revolution.^[1] He became the first Czech ambassador to Israel following the revolution.^[1] Pojar served as ambassador from 1990 until 1994.^[2] His son, Tomáš Pojar, currently serves as the Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Israel, as of February 2012.^[1][2]

^{(1940 – January 23, 2012)}

The majority of Pojar's books and articles focused on Jewish history and themes, though the government of Communist Czechoslovakia forbid him from publishing his work from 1970 until 1990.^[1] After returning from Israel, Pojar became the director of the Jewish Museum in Prague's Educational and Cultural Center in the 1990s and a lecturer at the New York University's Prague campus.^[1][3]
His last book, completed shortly before his death, explored the relationship between Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk and the Jewish people.^[1]
Pojar died at a hospital in Prague on January 22, 2012, at the age of 71.^[1]



To see more of who died in 2011 click here

Erik Haaest, Danish journalist and author, died he was 76.

Erik Haaest was a controversial Danish journalist died he was 76..^[1]

^{(14 March 1935 – 23 January 2012)} 

Haaest's father was an active member of the Danish resistance. After the war, his father refused to accept any awards from Denmark's post-war government, because many officials who had collaborated with the Germans, were still unpunished, in positions of power and were now posing as anti-Nazis. Haaest is intimately familiar with the subjects of Danish resistance, and Danish pro-Nazi collaborators.
He has interviewed many Danish Waffen SS veterans, and in typical journalist fashion, takes pains to document his claims and name his sources. Perhaps as a result, attempts to discredit Haaest have consisted mostly of innuendo and denial, rather than discussing what - if anything - is wrong with the evidence he provides.
In 2007 the Danish Arts Council was condemned for providing funding to Haaest for research into Danes who served in the SS, on the grounds that Haaest had stated that the concentration camp gas chambers never existed and that the Diary of Anne Frank was a forgery.^[2]



To see more of who died in 2011 click here

Marge Carey, British union leader, President of USDAW (1997–2006), died from motor neurone disease she was 73.

Marge Carey, MBE  was a trade unionist and served as President of the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (USDAW) from 1997 to 2006 died from motor neurone disease she was 73..

(c. 1938 – 23 January 2012)

Carey was born in Middlesbrough, although her family soon moved to Liverpool.^[1]
Carey joined the USDAW in 1972, whilst working at Vernons Pools,^[1] and was appointed as an area organiser in 1978.^[2] She was promoted to Divisional Officer for the union's North West region in February 1990 and continued in that position until she retired in 2001. She was elected President of the USDAW from 1997 until 2006.^[2]
She also served as a member of the General Council of the Trades Union Congress from 1998 until 2006^[3] and was awarded an MBE in 1998 "for services to industrial relations".^[2]
After retiring, Carey was diagnosed with motor neurone disease and became active in the Merseyside branch of the Motor Neurone Disease Association, serving as a branch committee member. She died of motor neurone disease, known as Lou Gehrig's disease (ALS) in North America, on 23 January 2012, aged 73.^[4]


To see more of who died in 2011 click here