| Paravastu Chinnayasuri | |
| Native Name: | పరవస్తు చిన్నయ సూరి |
| Birth Name: | Chinnaya |
| Birth Date: | 1806 |
| Birth Place: | Sriperumbdur, Madras Presidency, British India |
| Death Place: | 1862 |
| Occupation: | Teacher and writer |
| Language: | Telugu |
| Genres: | --> |
| Subjects: | --> |
| Movement: | Telugu prose |
| Notable Works: | Nīticaṃdrika, Bālavyākaraṇamu |
| Spouses: | --> |
| Partners: | --> |
| Relatives: | Paravastu Venkataranga Ramanujacharyulu and Srinivasamba (parents) |
Paravastu Chinnayasuri (1806/7–1861/2)[1] (Telugu: పరవస్తు చిన్నయ సూరి) was a Telugu writer who played a prominent role in the elevation of prose to importance in Telugu literature.[2] He was the first Telugu Pandit at the Presidency College, Madras.[3] He also worked as a law scholar for the Supreme Court of East India Company. He was acclaimed as a profound scholar in Telugu and Sanskrit in the traditional education. More than a third of his life span was spent in teaching Telugu in schools and in the Presidency college, Madras.
Paravastu Chinnayasuri was born in 1806/7 in Perambur of Chengalpattu district in a Satani family[4] [5] He was the son of Venkata Rangayya, a Vaishnavite scholar. He worked as a Telugu teacher at Pachaiyappa's College in Madras. He also worked as a law scholar for the Supreme Court of East India Company. He was a Pundit in the Telugu, Sanskrit, Prakrit, and Tamil languages. He died in 1861/2.
Chinnayasuri translated the first two books of the Sanskrit Panchatantra into Telugu, entitling his translation the Nīticaṃdrika. It was published by Vavilla Ramaswamy Sastrulu and Sons in Madras.[6] He wrote the Bālavyākaraṇamu, a textbook for teaching Telugu grammar in schools.[7] He translated Thomas Lumisden Strange's Manual of Hindoo Law of 1856, entitling it the Hiṃdūdharmaśāstrasaṃgrahamu.[8]