About Carlos G. Vallés

Father Carlos Vallés, S.J., is a best seller in three languages. He was born in Spain in 1925 and moved to India in 1949. He worked for many years as a professor of mathematics in St. Xavier's College, Ahmendabad. Together with his professional teaching, he entered the literary field in the Gujarati language. Then began to write in English and Spanish. Few authors can claim to be the best sellers in the three different languages in which they write.

The well-known writer Carlos G. Vallés has been chosen by the Gujarat Literary Academy for the "Ranjitram Gold Medal", the highest Gujarat literary award. This was the first time in history that prestigious award went to a foreign writer whose native language was not Gujarat. Before, he had received the "Aurobindo Gold Medal" in 1968 and the "Kumar Gold Medal" in 1966. His very first book, "Sadachar" was chosen as "Book of the Year" when it appeared in 1960, and has been reprinted fourteen times since then. He has published more than sixty books, and a survey conducted by the Lions Club shows him as the most popular essayist in Gujarat today.

He was first known in Gujarat as a mathematics teacher and a pioneer of the new mathematics. He first gave summer courses to University teachers on Modern Algebra, worked in the commission to fix the terminology for the new mathematics in Gujarat, wrote the first book on higher mathematics in an Indian language, and represented the Gujarat University at international mathematics congresses in Moscow, Niece, Exeter. For four consecutive years Father Vallés got the Gujarat Government literary award as the best book of essays. Then, the Government of Gujarat made a decision that a writer cannot obtain such award more than four times. For many years, he wrote a weekly article in three Gujarat newspapers of Ahmedabad, Bombay, and Surat. His literary output has been really extraordinary. 85 books in Gujarat (10 which cover mathematics), 21 books in English, and 28 in Spanish. Besides the books written in the three languages, Gujarat, English, and Spanish, many of his books have been translated into Chinese, Japanese, French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, and Tamil. Father Vallés currently resides in Spain where he gives confences. He travels to South America and is in India from December to February.