The President of the Republic of India awarded Prof. Vacek












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            * The President of the Republic of India awarded Prof. Jaroslav Vacek
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            Czech Indologist and founder of Mongolian Studies at Charles University Prof. Vacek will b

            the Kural Peedam Prize for his contribution to the study of classical Tamil literature. Th
            Peedam (literally the ‘Altar of Verses’) is awarded to foreign scholars, who have made an 
            contribution to the study of classical Tamil literature. In previous years this prize has 

            for instance, to Prof. François Gros (Ecole Française d'Extreme-Orient, Paris) and Prof. G
            (University of California, Berkeley).
            Prof. Vacek (*1943) is a Czech Indologist and founder of Mongolian Studies at Charles Univ

            Tamil, Tamil Studies and translations from Sanskrit and Tamil, his research activities con
            of Sanskrit classical literature, the Indian linguistic area and Dravido-Altaic linguistic

            His teaching activities include the languages and cultures of India. Between 1976 and 1990
            Mongolian. For many years he has been the Director of the Institute of South and Central A
            Philosophy, Charles University and he is also the director of the Research Programme Orien

            Studies at Charles University.