George Uglow Pope

Who was George Uglow Pope?

George Uglow Pope popularly known as Rev. G.U. Pope or G.U. Pope was a Christian missionary who spent many years in Tamil Nadu and translated many Tamil texts into English. His popular translations include Tirukkural and Tiruvachagam. His efforts were recognized by the Royal Asiatic Society in the form of a gold medal. He was the head of the Bishop Cotton Boys' School, Bangalore before returning to Oxford.

George Uglow Pope was born on 24 April 1820 in Prince Edward Island in Canada. His family migrated to England when he was an infant. He left for South India in 1839 and arrived at Sawyerpuram near Tuticorin. Pope turned into a scholar of Tamil, Sanskrit and Telugu. He set up several schools and taught Latin, English, Hebrew, Mathematics and Philosophy.

He completed his translation of Tirukkural on September 1, 1886. His Sacred Kural contains introduction, grammar, translation, notes, lexicon and concordance. It also includes the English translation of F. W. Ellis and the Latin Translation of Constanzo Beschi with 436 pages. He had, by February 1893, translated Naaladiyaar, a didactic work of moral sayings in quatrains, 400 in number in 40 chapters, each by a Jain ascetic, according to a Tamil tradition.