Veteran Communist and journalist Berlin Kunhananthan Nair, 96, who was a repository of knowledge about Marxist history of Kerala, died at his ancestral house at Narath here on Monday evening.
Mr. Nair, who held the rare distinction of having attended the first Communist Party of India (CPI) party congress, was also political secretary to former Chief Minister E.M.S Namboodiripad. He was a correspondent of Indian Communist newspapers as well as the European correspondent of Blitz in Berlin from 1965 to 1982, hence his pen name.
A staunch supporter of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan once, Mr. Nair, however, stood with veteran Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader V.S. Achuthanandan during the factional tussle between the leaders. He had critiqued Mr. Vijayan after the killing of Revolutionary Marxist Party founder leader T.P. Chandrasekharan.
