Devendra Satyarthi (28 May 1908 – 2003) was an Indian folklorist and writer of

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabis, Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a ...

literature.

Early life

Born at

Bhadaur Bhadaur is a town in Barnala district in the state of Punjab, India. It is part of the Bhadaur Assembly Constituency. History Bhadaur was an independent princely state till 1857, then it was brought under subordination of Patiala by British ...

(

Barnala Barnala is a city in the Indian state of Punjab. Barnala city serves as the headquarters of the Barnala district which was formed in 2006. Prior to the formation of Barnala district, the city was located in Sangrur district. It is a centrally ...

) he did not complete his education and started travelling from 1927 collecting folk songs which he published in his first folk song anthology in 1935 under the name ''Giddha'', which is considered by many as a seminal work. Satyarthi published over 50 books composed of novels, short stories, poems, essays and folksong anthologies in

and

languages, but reportedly on advice from

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Thakur (; anglicised as Rabindranath Tagore ; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengalis, Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter of the Bengal Renai ...

, he wrote mostly in Punjabi language towards the end. ''Mere Saakshatkaar'', ''Miss Folklore'', ''Meet My People - Indian Folk Poetry'', ''Pañjābī loka-sāhita wica sainika'', ''Lanka Desa hai Kolambu'', ''Brahmaputra'', and ''Rath ke Pahiye'' are some of his notable works. A winner of the Hindi Sahitya Sadhna Samman, Satyarthi was awarded the fourth highest Indian civilian award of

Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

in 1977. He died on 12 February 2003, at the age of 94, succumbing to old age illnesses. ''Pancham'', a monthly magazine published from

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

, brought out a 300-page special issue on him in April 2003 and his life has been documented in a biography, ''Satyarthi – Ik Dant-katha'', written by Nirmal Arpan.

References

1908 births 2003 deaths People from Sangrur Indian folklorists Indian male novelists Indian male essayists Indian male short story writers 20th-century Indian novelists 20th-century Indian essayists 20th-century Indian short story writers Writers from Punjab, India 20th-century Indian male writers {{India-writer-stub

Early life

See also

References