Anantrai Manishankar Raval (1 January 1912 – 18 November 1988) was a
Gujarati critic and editor from India. Born and studied in
Amreli
Amreli is a city and a municipality in Amreli district in Indian state of Gujarat.
History
It is believed that during 534 AD Amreli existed was formerly known as Anumanji, Amlik and then Amravati. The city is named in ancient Gujrati as ''Am ...
, he worked briefly with a daily. He taught at several colleges before joining government as a director of language department. He wrote criticism chiefly under the pen name ''Shaunak'' and edited several works of Gujarati literature and litterateurs.
Life
Raval was born on 1 January 1912 at
Amreli
Amreli is a city and a municipality in Amreli district in Indian state of Gujarat.
History
It is believed that during 534 AD Amreli existed was formerly known as Anumanji, Amlik and then Amravati. The city is named in ancient Gujrati as ''Am ...
in
Gujarat
Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the nin ...
. He was a native of
Vallabhipur
Vallabhi (or Valabhi or Valabhipur, modern Vala; Devanāgarī: वल्लभी) is an ancient city located in the Saurashtra peninsula of Gujarat, near Bhavnagar in western India. It is also known as Vallabhipura and was the capital of the ...
. He completed his primary and secondary education from Amreli. He passed
matriculation
Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination.
Australia
In Australia, the term "matriculation" is seldom used now ...
in 1928. He completed Bachelor of Arts in Gujarati and Sanskrit from
Samaldas College,
Bhavnagar
Bhavnagar is a city in the Bhavnagar district of the Saurashtra region of Gujarat, a state of India. It was founded in 1723 by Bhavsinhji Takhtasinhji Gohil (1703–1764). It was the capital of Bhavnagar State, which was a princely state befo ...
and was a fellow of same college for two years. He completed Master of Arts with Gujarati and English in 1934 and was the first student in the
University of Bombay
The University of Mumbai is a collegiate, state-owned, public research university in Mumbai.
The University of Mumbai is one of the largest universities in the world. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. Ratan Tata is the appointed ...
to pass it with first class.
He worked as a subeditor with ''Hindustan Prajamitra'' daily for three months. Raval joined
Gujarat College
Gujarat Arts & Science College, popularly and previously known as Gujarat College, is one of the oldest educational institution of India and second arts and science college of Gujarat, near Ellis Bridge, Ahmedabad. The institution was founded ...
in Ahmedabad in August, 1934 and served as a principal of D. K. V. College,
Jamnagar
Jamnagar () is a city located on the western coast of India in the state of Gujarat of Saurashtra region. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jamnagar district and the fifth largest city in Gujarat. The city lies just to the south o ...
for one and half years. He served as Director of Language Department of
Government of Gujarat
The Government of Gujarat, also known as Gujarat Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Gujarat and its 33 districts. It consists of an executive of the legislators appointed by the Governor of Gujarat, a judiciar ...
for a decade and retired from the post in 1970. He was later appointed a professor of Gujarati in School of Languages and Literature,
Gujarat University
The Gujarat University is a public state university located at Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. The university is an affiliating university at the under-graduate level and a teaching university at the postgraduate level. It is accredited B++ by N ...
. He retired as the president of it in 1977. He served as a member of Law Commission of Government of Gujarat. He presided over the convention of
Gujarati Sahitya Parishad
Gujarati Sahitya Parishad () is a literary organisation for the promotion of Gujarati literature located in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. It was founded by Ranjitram Mehta with the aim of creating literature appealing to all classes of society ...
at
Vadodara
Vadodara (), also known as Baroda, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Vadodara district and is situated on the banks of the Vishwamitri River, from the state capita ...
in 1979. He died on 18 November 1988.
Works
His chief contributions are in the field of criticism and editing. His pen name was Shaunak.[
]
Criticism
''Sahityavihar'' (1946) was his first collection of criticism. His other works of criticism are ''Gandhakshat'' (1949), ''Sahityavivek'' (1958), ''Sahityanikash'' (1958), ''Samiksha'' (1962), ''Samalochna'' (1966), ''Granthastha Vabgmai'' (1967), ''Upchay'' (1971), ''Unmilan'' (1974). ''Kavivarya Nhanalal'' (1985) is his study of works of Nanalal Dalpatram Kavi. His ''Gujarati Sahitya: Madhyakalin'' is a major work of criticism of medieval literature and litterateurs. ''Taratamya'' (1971) is a work of literary criticism. He edited collection of plays of Gujarati playwright, Batubhai Umarvadiya, as ''Batubhai na Natako'' (1951).
Editing
He edited works of many Gujarati litterateurs, '' Botadkar ni Kavyasarita'' (1956), ''Nhanalal no Madhukosh'' (1959), ''Nalakhyan
''Nalakhyan'' (; English: ''The Tale of Nala'') is a medieval Gujarati ''akhyana'' (long narrative poem), written by 17th-century Gujarati poet Premanand Bhatt (1649–1714). One of Premanand's most popular works, it retells the story of the myt ...
'' (1960), ''Gujarat no Ekakisangrah'' (1960), ''Snehmudra'' (1960), ''Madanmohna'' (1966), ''Kalapi
Sursinhji Takhtasinhji Gohil (26 January 1874 – 10 June 1900), popularly known by his pen name, ''Kalapi'' was a Gujarati poet and the Thakor (prince) of Lathi state in Gujarat. He is mostly known for his poems depicting his own pathos.
He live ...
no Kavyakalap'', ''Chunilal V. Shah ni Shreshtha Vartao''. He coedited '' Buddhiprakash Lekhsangrah'', Premanand Bhatt
Premanand Krushanram Bhatt (Gujarati: પ્રેમાનંદ કૃષ્ણંરામ ભટ્ટ)
(1636–1714), also known as Premanand, was a medieval Gujarati poet and ''Maanbhatt'' (professional story teller) known for his Akhyana ...
's ''Chandrahasakhyan'', '' Ramanlal Desai ni Shreshtha Vartao'', ''Kavishri Nhanalal Smarakgranth'', '' Mansukhlal Zaveri ni Kavyasushma'', ''Karsandas Manek ni Akshar Aradhna'', '' Kalelkar Adhyayan Granth'', ''Sarkari Vachanmala'' 1—4, ''D.B. Narmadashankar Mehta Samarakgranth''. In 1981, he edited ''Sahityacharcha'' for Sahitya Akademi
The Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, is an organisation dedicated to the promotion of literature in the languages of India. Founded on 12 March 1954, it is supported by, though independent of, the Indian government. Its of ...
. He edited ''Narsinh Mehta
Narsinh Mehta, also known as Narsinh Bhagat, was a 15th-century poet-saint of Gujarat, India, honored as the first poet, or ''Adi Kavi,'' of the Gujarati language. Narsinh Mehta is member of Nagar Brahman community. Narsinh became a devotee of K ...
na Pado'' in 1984. He coedited the fourth volume of ''Gujarati Sahitya no Itihas'' (History of Gujarati literature
The history of Gujarati literature ( gu, ગુજરાતી સાહિત્ય) may be traced to 1000 AD, and this literature has flourished since then to the present. It is unique in having almost no patronage from a ruling dynasty, oth ...
) with Umashankar Joshi
Umashankar Jethalal Joshi () (21 July 1911 – 19 December 1988) was an Indian poet, scholar and writer known for his contributions to Gujarati literature. He wrote most of his works in Gujarati.
Biograpy
Early years
Umashankar Joshi was ...
, published by Gujarati Sahitya Parishad
Gujarati Sahitya Parishad () is a literary organisation for the promotion of Gujarati literature located in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. It was founded by Ranjitram Mehta with the aim of creating literature appealing to all classes of society ...
.[
]
Other
Raval abridged Ramanlal Desai's ''Gramlakshmi''. He translated novellas of Leo Tolstoy
Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...
with Vishwanath Bhatt. He also coauthored ''Aaharvigyan'' with J. D. Pathak. He wrote some stories for ''Chaa Ghar'' (Tea House, 1944).[
]
Awards
Raval received Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak in 1955. He also received Narmad Chandrak in 1974. He was awarded 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 ...
for ''Taratamya'' in 1974.
See also
* List of Gujarati-language writers
Well known laureates of Gujarati literature are Hemchandracharya, Narsinh Mehta, Mirabai, Akho, Premanand Bhatt, Shamal Bhatt, Dayaram, Dalpatram, Narmad, Govardhanram Tripathi, Mahatma Gandhi, K. M. Munshi, Umashankar Joshi, Suresh J ...
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Raval, Anantrai
1912 births
1988 deaths
Gujarati-language writers
Indian critics
Indian editors
People from Amreli district
Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Gujarati
20th-century Indian writers
Journalists from Gujarat
Indian male journalists
Recipients of the Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak
20th-century Indian male writers