Anantrai Raval

Anantrai Manishankar Raval (1 January 1912 – 18 November 1988) was a Gujarati critic and editor from India. Born and studied in Amreli, 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 in Gujarat. He was a native of Vallabhipur. He completed his primary and secondary education from Amreli. He passed matriculation in 1928. He completed Bachelor of Arts in Gujarati and Sanskrit from Samaldas College, Bhavnagar 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 to pass it with first class. He worked as a subeditor with ''Hindustan Prajamitra'' daily for three months. Raval joined Gujarat College in Ahmedabad in August, 1934 and served as a principal of D. K. V. College, Jamnagar for one and half years. He served as Director of Language Department of Government of Gujarat 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. 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 at Vadodara 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'' (1960), ''Gujarat no Ekakisangrah'' (1960), ''Snehmudra'' (1960), ''Madanmohna'' (1966), ''Kalapi no Kavyakalap'', ''Chunilal V. Shah ni Shreshtha Vartao''. He coedited '' Buddhiprakash Lekhsangrah'', Premanand Bhatt'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. He edited ''Narsinh Mehta na Pado'' in 1984. He coedited the fourth volume of ''Gujarati Sahitya no Itihas'' (History of Gujarati literature) with Umashankar Joshi, published by Gujarati Sahitya Parishad.

Other

Raval abridged Ramanlal Desai's ''Gramlakshmi''. He translated novellas of Leo Tolstoy 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 for ''Taratamya'' in 1974.

See also

* List of Gujarati-language writers

References

Further reading

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External links

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{{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