Kuppalli Venkatappa Puttappa (29 December 1904 – 11 November 1994),[3] popularly known by his pen name Kuvempu// ⓘ, was an Indian poet, playwright, novelist and critic.

Kuvempu was born in Hirekodige, a village in Koppa taluk of Chikmagalur district and raised in Kuppalli, a village in Shivamogga district of the erstwhile Kingdom of Mysore (now in Karnataka) into a Kannada-speaking Vokkaliga family.

[7] His mother Seethamma hailed from Koppa, Chikmangalur, while his father Venkatappa was from Kuppali, a village in Thirthahalli taluk (in present-day Shimoga district), where he was raised.

[13] Kuvempu has two sons, Poornachandra Tejaswi and Kokilodaya Chaitra, and two daughter, Indukala and Tharini.

His son Poornachandra Tejaswi was a polymath, contributing significantly to Kannada literature, photography, calligraphy, digital imaging, social movements, and agriculture.

[13] Kuvempu began his academic career as a lecturer of Kannada language at the Maharaja's College in Mysore in 1929.

[24] The Vishwamanava Express[25] was named in honour of Kuvempu's idea of "Vishwa Manava" ("Universal Man").