GNANA PRAKASAR, SWAMINADAR (SWAMINATHAPILLAI). - Missionary, born at Manipay, apostolic vicariate of Jaffna, on 30 Aug. 1875, of Hindu parents, and died there on 22 Jan. 1947. Having lost his father, he was baptized together with his mother. He first worked on the railways; then in 1895 he entered the Seminary of Jaffna, in 1897 became an Oblate of Mary Immaculate, and in 1901 was ordained a priest. In 1904 he began his mission among the pagans at Nallur. Until his death he succeeded in founding 37 stations and converting more than 3,000 Hindus.
Above all, however, Fr. G. distinguished himself as a writer. Even as a seminarian he had published short treatises and pamphlets; as a young priest he founded the Catholic bookshop at Kayta. Besides many religious writings, he published: A History of the Catholic Church in Ceylon, I, Period of beginnings 1502-1602 (Colombo 1926), and the history of the diocese of Jaffna under the episcopate of Msgr. Henry Joulain O.M.I., XXV Years Catholic Progress (Jaffna 1925). He also distinguished himself as a linguist through the publications Studies in Tamil etymologies and his Tamil Lessico in 20 volumes, of which he himself was able to publish only 6.