Father Carlos Vall s, S.J., is a best seller in three languages. He was born in Spain in 1925 and moved to India in 1949. He worked for many years as a professor of mathematics in St. Xavier's College, Ahmendabad. Together with his professional teaching, he entered the literary field in the Gujarati language. Then began to write in English and Spanish.
Few authors can claim to be the best sellers in the three different languages in which they write.
This was the first time in history that prestigious award went to a foreign writer whose native language was not Gujarat. He has published more than sixty books, and a survey conducted by the Lions Club shows him as the most popular essayist in Gujarat today. He was first known in Gujarat as a mathematics teacher and a pioneer of the new mathematics. He first gave summer courses to University teachers on Modern Algebra, worked in the commission to fix the terminology for the new mathematics in Gujarat, wrote the first book on higher mathematics in an Indian language, and represented the Gujarat University at international mathematics congresses in Moscow, Niece, Exeter. For four consecutive years Father Vall s got the Gujarat Government literary award as the best book of essays.