Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi (15 May 1864 – 21 December 1938) was an Indian

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 ...

writer and editor. ''Adhunikkaal'', or the Modern period of the

Hindi literature Hindi literature () includes literature in the various Central Indo-Aryan languages, also known as Hindi, some of which have different writing systems. Earliest forms of Hindi literature are attested in poetry of Apabhraṃśa such as Awad ...

, is divided into four phases, and he represents the second phase, known as the ''Dwivedi Yug'' (1893–1918) after him, which was preceded by the '' Bharatendu Yug'' (1868–1893), followed by the ''

Chhayavad Chhayavad (ISO: ) refers to the era of mystical-romanticism in Hindi literature, particularly poetry, spanning approximately from mid-1910s to early-1940s. It emerged as a reaction to the didacticism of its previous poetic movement - the Dwive ...

Yug'' (1918–1937) and the Contemporary Period (1937–present).

Biography

He was born into

Kanyakubja Brahmin Kanyakubja Brahmins are an endogamous Brahmin community mainly found in northern India. They are classified as one of the Pancha Gauda Brahmin communities. Kanyakubja Brahmins emerged as the highest ranking subcaste of Brahmins and are known ...

family on 15 May 1864 in Daulatpur village, now in Raebareli District of

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. His father Ram Sahay Dwivedi was a soldier in the

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's army and later worked in

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as temple priest for the leaders of the Vallabha sampradaya. Dwivedi received his early education in

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at his home, and in

and

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at the Daulatpur village school. At the age of thirteen, he was sent to the district school in Raibareli, where he studied English and

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

for one year, and then attended schools in Purva, Fatehpur, and Unao for four years.

Career

During his

Indian Railways Indian Railways is a state-owned enterprise that is organised as a departmental undertaking of the Ministry of Railways (India), Ministry of Railways of the Government of India and operates India's national railway system. , it manages the fou ...

service in

Jhansi Jhansi ( ) is a historic city in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. (Toshan) Balwant Nagar was the old name of Jhansi. It lies in the region of Bundelkhand, on the banks of the Pahuj River, in the extreme ...

in the 1880s, Dwivedi earned wide fame as a writer and litterateur. He published his translations and the critical works including'' Sahitya Sandarbh'' and '' Vichar Vimarsh''. In 1903, Dwivedi joined the Hindi monthly journal, ''

Saraswati Saraswati (, ), also spelled as Sarasvati, is one of the principal Devi, goddesses in Hinduism, revered as the goddess of knowledge, education, learning, arts, speech, poetry, music, purification, language and culture. Together with the godde ...

'' and was able to edit the journal with a knowledge of both classical and contemporary literature gained from his writing experiences. During his tenure as the editor (1903–20), ''Saraswati'' became the most popular Hindi magazine. He was considered as the mentor of

Maithili Sharan Gupt Dr Maithilisharan Gupt (3 August 1886 – 12 December 1964) was one of the most important modern Hindi poets. He is considered one among the pioneers of '' Khari Boli'' (plain dialect) poetry and wrote in Khari Boli dialect, at a time when most ...

, another noted Hindi poet and writer.

Works

* ''Kavya manjusha'' * ''Kavitakalap'' * ''Sugandh'' * ''Mere Jeevan ki Yatra'' * ''Sahitya Sandarbh'' * ''Hans'' *''Hindi Bhasha ki Utpatti''

References

External links

* *
Brief profile
at ''indiavisitinformation.com'', Retrieved 2011-07-02. Hindi-language writers People from Raebareli district People from Jhansi 1864 births 1938 deaths Poets from Uttar Pradesh 19th-century Indian poets 20th-century Indian poets Writers from British India {{India-writer-stub