Kusumavati Deshpande (1904–1961) was a

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India **Marathi people (Uttar Pradesh), the Marathi people in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Mar ...

writer from

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

, India. She was born on 10 November 1904 in

Amravati Amravati (/Marathi phonology, əmᵊɾɑʋᵊt̪iː/) is a city in Maharashtra located in the Vidarbha region. It is the ninth largest city in Maharashtra, India & second largest city in the Vidarbha region in terms of population. It is the ...

, Bombay Presidency, her maiden having been Kusum Jaywant. Her father was a lawyer. After finishing her high school education at Huzurpaga (HHCP) girls' school in

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

in 1921, she studied for four years in

Fergusson College Fergusson College is an autonomous public-private college offering various courses in the streams of arts and science in the city of Pune, India. It was founded in 1885 by Vaman Shriram Apte, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Vishnushashtri Chiplunkar, Mah ...

, also in Pune, before moving to Nagpur and receiving her B.A. degree from

Nagpur University Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University (RTMNU), formerly Nagpur University, is a public state university located in Nagpur, Maharashtra. It is one of India's oldest universities, as well as the second-oldest in Maharashtra. It is named ...

in 1926. She went to the UK to receive in 1929 a B.A. in English literature from

Westfield College Westfield College was a small college situated in Hampstead, London, from 1882 to 1989. It was the first college to aim to educate women for University of London degrees from its opening. The college originally admitted only women as students and ...

in London. The same year she married Atmaram Ravaji Deshpande alias '' Kavi Anil'' and took the name Kusumavati Deshpande. Deshpande taught English literature at

for over 25 years. She also served as the chief producer for women's and children's programmes at

All India Radio All India Radio (AIR), also known as Akashvani (), is India's state-owned public broadcasting, public radio broadcaster. Founded in 1936, it operates under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broa ...

, and as the convenor of the advisory board for the

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 off ...

on Marathi literature.

Literary works

Deshpande's critical essays on Marathi literature were published in two volumes as ''Marathi Kadambariche Pahile Shatak'' (मराठी कादंबरीचे पहिले शतक) in 1954 by the

. Four collections of her short essays and short stories have been published: * ''Deepakali'' (दीपकळी) (1934) * ''Deepadan'' (दीपदान) (1940) * ''Moli'' (मोळी) (1945) * ''Pasang'' (पासंग) (1954) A collection of letters between Deshpande and her husband have been published under the title ''Kusumanil'' (कुसुमानिल). Deshpande presided over

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 ...

Gwalior Gwalior (Hindi: , ) is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; It is known as the Music City of India having oldest Gwalior gharana, musical gharana in existence. It is a major sports, cultural, industrial, and political c ...

in 1961. (Her husband had presided over the event in 1958.) She was the first female president of the annual Sammelan since its inception in 1878. (Following her, there have been four more female presidents until now.)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Deshpande, Kusumvati Marathi-language writers 1904 births 1961 deaths People from Amravati Academic staff of Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University Date of death missing Place of death missing Presidents of the Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan