Alokeranjan Dasgupta (6 October 1933 – 17 November 2020) was a

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

poet who was the author of over 20 books of poetry. He translated

and Santal poetry and plays into English and German, and also translated literature from

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

and French into

. He also published a number of books of essays, and was well known for his distinctive prose style.Parabaas.com
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Education

Dasgupta was born in 1933 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 ...

. He studied at

Visva-Bharati Visva-Bharati (IAST: ''Viśva-Bhāratī''), () is a public central university and an Institute of National Importance located in Shantiniketan, West Bengal, India. It was founded by Rabindranath Tagore who called it ''Visva-Bharati'', which ...

, Santiniketan, and then at St. Xavier's College, the Presidency College, and finally at the

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 ...

, gaining a Ph.D. for his studies on the lyric in Indian poetry. He used also to be associated vigorously with the little magazines and translate the original

works into

Career

After completing his Ph.D., Dasgupta taught comparative literature and Bengali at the Department of

Comparative Literature Comparative literature studies is an academic field dealing with the study of literature and cultural expression across language, linguistic, national, geographic, and discipline, disciplinary boundaries. Comparative literature "performs a role ...

(founded by

Buddhadeva Bose Buddhadeva Bose (;2 September 1908 – 14 August 1974), also spelt Buddhadeb Bosu, was an Indian Bengali writer of the 20th century. Frequently referred to as a poet, he was a versatile writer who wrote novels, short stories, plays and essays ...

) at

Jadavpur University Jadavpur University ( abbr. JU) is a public state funded research university with its main campus located at Jadavpur, Kolkata, West Bengal, India. It was established on 25 July in 1906 as ''Bengal Technical Institute'' and was converted into ...

from 1957 until 1971, when he went to Germany on a Humboldt Foundation Fellowship. Since 1971, he taught at the faculty of the South Asia Institute of the

University of Heidelberg Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is List ...

, Germany. He was closely associated with the Deutsche-Indische Gessellschaft (DIG), which is a premier institution for promoting close links between India and Germany. A poet much admired by his fellow poets and the wannabes, his poetry is known for both thematic and technical innovations. The

German government The Federal Government (, ; abbr. BReg) is the chief executive body of the Federal Republic of Germany and exercises executive power at the federal level. It consists of the Federal Chancellor and the Federal Ministers. The fundamentals o ...

felicitated him for his contribution to bring together two different cultures together by awarding him the

Goethe Medal The Goethe Medal, also known as the Goethe-Medaille, is a yearly prize given by the Goethe-Institut honoring non-Germans "who have performed outstanding service for the German language and for international cultural relations". It is an offici ...

in 1985.

Awards

Dasgupta received many awards and honors including the Sudha Basu award from the

(1983), the Goethe Prize in Germany (1985), the

Ananda Purashkar The Ananda Puraskar () is an award for Bengali literature awarded annually by the ABP Group to writers using Bengali, usually from West Bengal, India. History The award can be traced to a comment by Annada Shankar Ray ruing the absence of lite ...

(1985), the

Pravasi Bharatiya Samman The Pravasi Bharatiya Samman (Overseas Indian Award) is the highest Indian award for Overseas Indians or an organisation or institution established and run by Overseas Indian diaspora, constituted by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, Go ...

(1985), the

Rabindra Puraskar The Rabindra Puraskar (also Rabindra Smriti Puraskar) is the highest honorary literary award given in the Indian state of West Bengal. This award is named after the famous Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore and is administered by the Government of ...

(1987), the

Sahitya Akademi Award The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the ...

(1992) for his book of poems ''Marami Karat'' (translated as ''The Mystical Saw and Other Poems'') and the

(2005).

Bibliography

* ''Saranarthir Ritu O Shilpa Bhabna'', Ananda Publishers, 1993. . * ''Bhramane Nay Bhubane'', Ananda Publishers. . * ''Chayapathera Sandra Samlapika'', Ananda Publishers. . * ''Ekhanao Nameni, Bandhu, Niukliyara sitera Godhuli'', Ananda Publishers. . * ''Jvarera Ghore Taraju Kempe Yaya'' * ''Samabayi silpera Garaje'' * ''Tushara Jure Trisulacihna'' * ''Problems of Translation from South Asian Languages'' (by Universitat Heidelberg, Alokeranjan Dasgupta) * ''The Lyric In Indian Poetry'' (1962) * ''The Mystical Saw and Other Poems'' (by Roland Hindmarsh, Sahitya Akademi, Alokeranjan Dasgupta) (1996) * ''Satabarshikira alochayaya'' (2000) * ''The Shadow of a Kite and Other Essays'' (2004) * ''Alo Aro Alo'' (Collection of poems) (Abhijan Publishers, 2009) * ''Se Ki Khunje Pelo Iswerkana'' (Collection of poems) (Abhijan Publishers, 2012) * ''Nirishwar Pakhider Upasonalaye'' (Collection of poems) (Abhijan Publishers, 2013) * ''Ekhon Nabhonil Amar Tahabil'' (Collection of poems) (Abhijan Publishers, 2014)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dasgupta, Alokeranjan 20th-century Indian poets 20th-century Bengali poets Bengali Hindus 1933 births 2020 deaths 21st-century Bengalis Bengali male poets Translators from German Translators to Bengali Translators from Bengali Indian poets Indian male poets Indian male essayists 20th-century Indian translators 21st-century Indian translators 21st-century Indian writers 20th-century Indian male writers 21st-century Indian male writers 21st-century Indian poets 20th-century Indian essayists 21st-century Indian essayists Academic staff of Jadavpur University Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Bengali Poets from West Bengal Visva-Bharati University alumni University of Calcutta alumni Writers from Kolkata Recipients of Pravasi Bharatiya Samman