Ranjitram Vavabhai Mehta (25 October 1881 – 4 June 1917) was a Gujarati language writer from British India.
Biography
Mehta was born on 25 October 1881 in
Surat
Surat is a city in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The word Surat literally means ''face'' in Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of the river Tapti near its confluence with the Arabian Sea, it used to be a large seaport. It is now ...
to Vavabhai. He completed his schooling in
Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad ( ; Gujarati: Amdavad ) is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 (per t ...
where his father was the Chief Engineer of the
Ahmedabad Municipal Committee.
He completed
Bachelor of Arts from
Gujarat College in 1903 and served as a fellow for eight months. From 1906 to 1917, he served as a personal assistant of Prof. Gajjar and
Prabhashankar Pattani
Sir Prabhashankar Dalpatram Pattani (Gujarati language, Gujarati: સર પ્રભાશંકર પટ્ટણી) (15 April 1862 – 16 February 1938) was the prime minister or Divan, Diwan of Bhavnagar State in Gujarat, India. He was born ...
,
Dewan of
Bhavnagar State. He had served as principal of high school at
Umreth
Umreth is a municipality (''nagar palika'') and administrative seat for Umreth Taluka in Anand district, Gujarat, India. As of 2001 it had a population of 32,191.
Notable People
* Dewang Mehta - Former President of NASSCOM
* Ashok Bha ...
in 1905.
He founded
Gujarat Sahitya Sabha in 1904 and
Gujarati Sahitya Parishad in 1905. He died on 4 June 1917 by
drowning in sea at
Juhu beach. The highest award of
Gujarati literature
The history of Gujarati literature ( gu, ગુજરાતી સાહિત્ય) may be traced to 1000 AD, and this literature has flourished since then to the present. It is unique in having almost no patronage from a ruling dynasty, othe ...
and culture,
Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak, is named after him.
His son
Asoka Mehta (1911-1984) was an Indian independence activist and socialist politician.
Works
Mehta worked in different genres of literature such as essay, novel, drama and short story. ''Ranjitkruti Sangrah'', a collection of his writings, was published posthumously in 1921 by
K. M. Munshi. ''Ranjitramna Nibandho'', a collection of his essays, was also published posthumously in 1923. Gujarat Sahitya Parishad published his complete work as ''Ranjitram Gadyasanchay 1-2'' in 1982 on his birth centenary. Gujarati Sahitya Akademi has published ''Ranjitram Vavavbhai ane Temnu Sahitya''.
His ''Ahmad Rupande'' (1908) was a love story between Hindu girl and Muslim boy. In 1905, he had coined the Gujarati words ''Lokgeet'' and ''Lokkatha'' for folklore in a paper presented at Gujarati Sahitya Parishad.
See also
*
List of Gujarati-language writers
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mehta, Ranjitram
Gujarati-language writers
Writers from Gujarat
1881 births
1917 deaths
20th-century Indian essayists
People from Surat
Indian folklorists
Deaths by drowning in India
Writers in British India