Samaresh Majumdar (10 March 1944 – 8 May 2023) was an Indian

Bengali language Bengali, also known by its endonym and exonym, endonym Bangla (, , ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language belonging to the Indo-Iranian languages, Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. ...

writer from

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

Early life and education

Majumdar was born on 10 March 1944 in Gairkata, Jalpaiguri district in the then

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

. He spent his childhood years in the tea gardens of Dooars, Gairkata in Jalpaiguri district,

, India. He was a student of the Jalpaiguri Zilla School, Jalpaiguri. He completed his

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

Bengali literature Bengali literature () denotes the body of writings in the Bengali language and which covers Old Bengali, Middle Bengali and Modern Bengali with the changes through the passage of time and dynastic patronization or non-patronization. Bengali h ...

from Scottish Church College in

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

and his

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in Bengali Literature from

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...

. His first story appeared in '' Desh'' literary magazine in 1967. ''Dour'' ("Run") was his first novel, which was published in ''Desh'' in 1976. He was associated with the Ananda Publishers.

Genre

Majumdar was best known for his Animesh series of novels, the second of which (''Kalbela'') won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1984. He was also known for creating the detective character Arjun, who is the central character of the 2013 film '' Arjun – Kalimpong E Sitaharan''. The Bengali film '' Buno Haansh'' is also based on his novel of the same name, which was published in Pujabarshiki Anondolok. Majumdar was a versatile writer, and many of his novels contain elements of suspense. His novels include ''Aath Kuthuri Noy Daraja'', ''Bandinibash'', ''Daybadhha'', ''Buno Haansher Palak'', and ''Saatkahon''. Majumdar worked on short stories, novels, travelogues and children's fiction. His quartet of ''Uttoradhikar'', ''Kalbela'', ''Kalpurush,'' and ''Mousalkal'' is now considered as a modern classic.

Death

Majumdar died after being hospitalised for COPD complications in

, on 8 May 2023, at the age of 79.

Notable characters

* ''Animesh'' and Madhabilata (''Uttaradhikar'', , Kalpurush and ''Mousholkaal'') * ''Arjun'' - the sleuth cum science fiction character. The first movie based upon the early adventures of Arjun is '' Arjun — Kalimpong E Sitaharan'', released on 3 May 2013. * ''Dipaboli'', a striking main character of ''Saatkahon'' * ''Arka'' - son of Animesh; in ''Kalpurush'' and ''Moushalkal''

Works

Young adults

Awards

* Banga Bibhushan Samman awarded by

Government of West Bengal The Government of West Bengal, also known as the West Bengal Government, is the Administrative division, principal administrative authority of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of West Bengal, created by the Constitution ...

: 2018 * ABP Ananda "Sera Bangali": 2018 * Bankim Puroshkar for ''Kolikataye Nobokumar'': 2009 * Sahitya Akademi Award for ''Kalbela'': 1984 * Ananda Purashkar: 1982 * Bengal Film Journalists' Association Award, Dishari and Chalachchitra Prasar Samity – Best Script Writer: 1982

References

External links

1944 births 2023 deaths People from Jalpaiguri district Bengali-language writers Bengali writers Indian children's writers Bengali detective fiction writers Scottish Church College alumni University of Calcutta alumni Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Bengali 20th-century Indian novelists Novelists from West Bengal Deaths from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease {{India-writer-stub