Parameswaran Thankappan Nair (30 April 1933 – 18 June 2024) was an Indian writer, independent researcher, historian and Malayali author based in Kolkata, who wrote extensively on the history of Calcutta in the English language.
[3] Fondly referred to as the "Barefoot Historian",[4] he published 61 books, with the latest titled "Gandhiji in Kolkata".
[9] After passing his matriculation from Alwaye, Kerala, he arrived in Kolkata (the then Calcutta) in September 1955 in the Madras Mail.
[3][11] As an outsider, his work dealt extensively with perspectives overlooked by institutional, and nationalist historians in India.
[15] Often known as the barefoot historian of Calcutta,[6] or popularly known as Nair Babu,[16] he used his 1964 Remington typewriter and lived at 82C, Kansari Road, Bhabanipur, South Kolkata prior to return to Kerala.