Shripad Mahadev Mate (2 September 1886–25 December 1957) was a

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

writer and a social reformer from Bombay State,

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. Mate was a teacher of English and Marathi literature by profession. Although he took up writing at the relatively late age of forty-four, during the remainder of his life he wrote eclectically and copiously on a variety of social, scientific, biographical and historical subjects. He was deeply troubled by the social scourge of

untouchability Untouchability is a form of social institution that legitimises and enforces practices that are discriminatory, humiliating, exclusionary and exploitative against people belonging to certain social groups. Although comparable forms of discrimin ...

in contemporary India, and wrote several short stories as well as essays arguing for the abolition of this practice. Although he was a

Brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (gur ...

by birth and retained a spiritual affinity for the cultural and religious tenets of Hinduism, his writings show his sustained scepticism towards many of its dogmas. Mate was born in the town of

Shirpur Shirpur is a town and taluka in Dhule district of Nashik Division, Maharashtra. It is located on National Highway 3, which runs from Agra in Uttar Pradesh to Mumbai, Maharashtra. The Arunavati River and Tapi river flows through the city. ...

Vidarbha Vidarbha (Pronunciation: �id̪əɾbʱə is a geographical region in the east of the Indian state of Maharashtra and a proposed state of central India, comprising the state's Amravati and Nagpur divisions. Amravati Division's former name is Ber ...

. He went to New English School, Satara and acquired his university education (up to an M.A.) in Pune. For a few years, he served as a teacher at the

Nutan Marathi Vidyalaya Nutan Marathi Vidyalaya (NMV) is one of the oldest schools in Pune, Maharashtra, India. The school was founded by the Shikshan Prasarak Mandali, an educational charity on 1 January 1883. The school has a secondary school section for students in ...

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

and later as a professor at

Sir Parshurambhau College Sir Parashurambhau College (S.P. College) is an Autonomous (since 2019) college in Pune, Maharashtra, India. Established in 1916, as New Poona College at the hands of the British Governor Lord Willingdon. The college was renamed as Sir Parashura ...

. His son Madhukar Mate (born 1930) was an eminent archaeologist with expertise in medieval India. Mate presided over the

Marathi Sahitya Sammelan Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan (All India Marathi Literary Conference) is an annual conference for literary discussions by Marathi writers. Marathi is the official language of Maharashtra State. The first Marathi Sahitya Sammelan was h ...

Sangli Sangli () is a city and the district headquarters of Sangli District in the state of Maharashtra, in western India. It is known as the Turmeric City of Maharashtra due to its production and trade of the spice. Sangli is situated on the banks ...

in 1943.

Notable literary works

* रसवंतीची जन्मकथा (1943) discusses the birth and development of human languages on evolutionary principles. * संत-पंत-तंत (1957) is an overview of devotional poets (संतकवी), erudite poets (पंडितकवी) and bards (शाहीर) in the Marathi linguistic tradition. * उपेक्षितांचे अंतरंग (1941), अनामिका (1946), माणुसकीचा गहिवर (1949) and भावनांचे पाझर (1954) are some of his collections of short stories. A unifying thread through all of these stories is the compassionate portrayal of the lives of tribals and untouchable castes, such as महार, मांग, रामोशी and कातोडी. * साहित्यधारा (1943), विचार-शलाका (1950) and विचारमंथन (1962) contain argumentative essays on social and religious themes. * परशुरामचरित्र (1937), गीतातत्त्वविमर्श (1957) and रामदासांचे प्रपंचविज्ञान (1960) contain his unorthodox interpretations of familiar mythological themes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mate, Shripad Mahadev 1886 births 1957 deaths Indian human rights activists Marathi-language writers Writers in British India 20th-century Indian writers Presidents of the Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan