Narayan Hemchandra Divecha (1855–1904), commonly known as Narayan Hemchandra, was a

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub- ...

writer, translator and critic. He travelled extensively and wrote autobiography, novels, stories and criticism. He was a prolific translator and credited with introducing

Bengali literature Bengali literature () denotes the body of writings in the Bengali language and which covers Old Bengali, Middle Bengali and Modern Bengali with the changes through the passage of time and dynastic patronization or non-patronization. Bengali h ...

to Gujarat.

Biography

Narayan Hemchandra Divecha was born in 1855 in Diu and spent most of his life in

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

(now Mumbai). He had not studied much but had travelled extensively. He went to England four times. In 1875, he went to

Allahabad Prayagraj (, ; ISO 15919, ISO: ), formerly and colloquially known as Allahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi, Varanasi (Benar ...

with Navinchandra Roy where he started translating. He is credited with introducing

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, 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 List of states and union territories ...

. He had influenced

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

. Gandhi met him in England and described him as a queerly-looking and queerly dressed person. But he was not ashamed of his looks, clothes or poor English. Gandhi observed in '' Satyana Prayogo'' his great penchant to learn foreign languages to read their literature.

Works

Hemchandra had written about two hundred works. ''Hu Pote'' (1900) was the first autobiography published in Gujarati language although the first autobiography was written by

Narmad Narmadashankar Lalshankar Dave () (24 August 1833 – 26 February 1886), popularly known as Narmad, was an Indian Gujarati-language poet, playwright, essayist, orator, lexicographer and reformer under the British Raj. He is considered to be th ...

(published in 1933). It is partially travelogue and was written on first 34 years of his life including his travels and experiences. He has also written about

Debendranath Tagore Debendranath Tagore (15 May 1817 – 19 January 1905; birth name: Debendronath Thakur) was an Indian philosopher and religious reformer, active in the Brahmo Samaj (earlier called Bhramho Sabha) ("Society of Brahma", also translated as ''Socie ...

and

Dayanand Saraswati Dayanand Saraswati () born Mool Shankar Tiwari (12 February 1824 – 30 October 1883), was a Hindu philosopher, social leader and founder of the Arya Samaj, a reform movement of Hinduism. His book '' Satyarth Prakash'' has remained one of th ...

in it. ''Panch Varta'' (1903) and ''Phooldani Ane Biji Vartao'' (1903) are collections of his stories. ''Vaidyakanya'' (1895), ''Snehkutir'' (1896), ''Roopnagarni Rajkunwari'' (1904) are his novels. His works on criticism include: ''Jivancharitra Vishe Charcha'' (1895), ''Sahitaycharcha'' (1896), ''Kalidas Ane Shakespeare'' (1900). ''Dharmik Purusho'' (June 1893), published by

Gujarat Vernacular Society Gujarat Vidya Sabha, originally called Gujarat Vernacular Society, is a literary institution for the promotion of vernacular Gujarati literature and education, and for the collection of manuscripts and printed books; located in the city of Ahmedab ...

contains the life sketches of twelve prophets and saints like

Chaitanya Chaitanya or Chaithanya may refer to Philosophy *Chaitanya (consciousness), Hindu philosophical concept People *Chaitanya (name) *Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1486–1533), founder of Gaudiya Vaishnavism Media *Chaitanya (film), ''Chaitanya'' (film), ...

Nanak Gurū Nānak (15 April 1469 – 22 September 1539; Gurmukhi: ਗੁਰੂ ਨਾਨਕ; pronunciation: , ), also known as ('Father Nanak'), was an Indian spiritual teacher, mystic and poet, who is regarded as the founder of Sikhism and is t ...

Kabir Kabir ( 15th century) was a well-known Indian devotional mystic poet and sant. His writings influenced Hinduism's Bhakti movement, and his verses are found in Sikhism's scripture Guru Granth Sahib, the Satguru Granth Sahib of Saint Gar ...

and

Ramakrishna Ramakrishna (18 February 1836 – 16 August 1886——— —), also called Ramakrishna Paramahansa (; ; ), born Ramakrishna Chattopadhay,M's original Bengali diary page 661, Saturday, 13 February 1886''More About Ramakrishna'' by Swami Prab ...

. He had also written a biography on

Prophet Mohammed Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

. He was a prolific translator. His notable translations include: ''Doctor Samuel Johnson nu Jivancharitra'' (Biography of

Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson ( – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary critic, sermonist, biographer, editor, and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...

, 1839), ''Malatimadhav'' (1893), ''Priyadarshika'' and ''Sanyasi''. He had translated large number of Bengali works in Gujarati including works of

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 has also written on literature, education and music.

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hemchandra, Narayan 1855 births 1904 deaths Mahatma Gandhi Indian male poets Gujarati-language poets 19th-century Indian translators 19th-century Indian poets Indian autobiographers Gujarati-language writers Indian critics People from Diu Writers from Mumbai Indian novelists Indian short story writers Poets from Bombay Presidency Novelists from British India Short story writers from British India Indian male short story writers

Biography

Works

See also

Notes

References

External links