Savaya Gujarati Dehvilay of 95 year old Father Wallace, unique service of Gujarati language

- Born in Spain, Father called Gujarat his second home

Logrono, Spain dated 9 November 2020 Monday

Father Wallace, a great servant of Gujarati people and a writer, passed away at the age of 995 in his hometown. With the death of Father Wallace, Gujarat lost a son and a Lok Sevak.

On November 4, 1925, an engineer was housed in the Spanish city of Logro. His original name was Carlos Gonzalez Wallace. Carlos, known to friends as SJ and Father Wallace in literature, lost his father to an illness when he was only ten years old. Just six months after the civil war broke out in Spain, Carlos left Logra with his mother and brother. His mother's aunt went to live there.

Carlos studied with his brother at a Jesuit school. From an early age he was deeply interested in religion and spirituality, so at the age of fifteen he became a Jesuit Novette. In 1949, he was sent to India as a missionary. After coming to India, he resumed his unfinished studies and did his M.A. with First Class Honors in Mathematics from Madras University. a. Happened. He then started learning English and Gujarati in addition to his mother tongue Spanish.

The reason for his interest in learning Gujarati was that the head of his mission assigned him to work as a professor of mathematics at the newly started St. Xavier's College in Ahmedabad. He felt that if he wanted to teach in Gujarat, he should know Gujarati language. Meanwhile, his religious studies continued. After studying religion for four years in Pune, the cultural capital of Maharashtra, he started writing in Gujarati. In simple language he was adept at expressing ideas. He came to Ahmedabad in 1960 and was soon invited by Bachubhai Rawat's Kumar Saptahik to write there himself. Earlier, one of his books, Sadachar, had been published.

After writing in Kumar for five years, he started writing a column for the new generation in Gujarat Samachar called Navi Samadhi. The column was very popular and succeeded in attracting the younger generation. The articles in this column were sold out in book form. He had a very close relationship with Gujarat Samachar. He also translated some important books on mathematics from foreign languages ​​into Gujarati for Gujarat University. These books were also a boon for math students.

Shortly after understanding the living and culture of the people of Gujarat, he vacated the college quarters and moved in with the people. For almost ten years he spent some time with people and some time with his family. They had constant worries and feelings for the rising generation. Due to a special kind of intimacy and simplicity in his writings, even the Conventia students who knew Gujarati well enough to read it, started reading Father Wallace.

After completing his career as a mathematics teacher, Father Wallace moved to Madrid. However, he continued to write in Gujarati. He wrote memoirs of his experiences in India and Latin America in English. Then came the easy translation of English and Spanish books. Seventy of his books were published in Gujarati language, some of which became best sellers. The titles of some of his books are: Gandhi - An Alternative to Violence, Nine Nights in India, A Teacher for a Nation, Mistakes like the Himalayas, The Path of Excellence, Leaders of Leaders, Lagnasagar, Family Mars, Dharmamangal, Gandhiji and the New Generation, Sanskar Tirth, College Life, Life philosophy etc.