Haveri: The family members of Reverend Ferdinand Kittel, who created the first dictionary of Kannada, visited Haveri on Thursday November 10 and expressed their appreciation for Kannada culture and language.
Kittel’s great-granddaughter Almuth Meyer, great grandson Yves Patrick Meyer and cousin John Fredrick Starmer had come to the City on the invitation of Kannada Sahitya Parishat State President Mahesh Joshi to attend the 86th All India Sahitya Sammelana to be held in Haveri. They participated in a programme organised at Devadhara Gurukrupa Church in the City and received the honour.
Earlier, it was decided to hold sahitya sammelan for three days from November 11. Though the conference was postponed, the Kittel family did not cancel the pre-scheduled tour and came to enjoy the beauty of Karnataka.
They announced “We will be in Karnataka for 10 days. We will go to Kittel College in Hubballi, Dharawad, Mangaluru and Bengaluru to see the places where Kittel lived. We will also be attending a literary conference to be held in January,” added Kittel’s relatives.
