Sayeed Ahmed (1 January 1931 – 21 January 2010) was a Bangladeshi dramatist, playwright, writer and sitar player. He was awarded

Bangla Academy Literary Award The Bangla Academy Literary Award (; ''Bangla Academy Shahitya Puroshkar'') is given by the Bangla Academy of Bangladesh in recognition of creative genius in advancement and overall contribution in the field of Bengali language and literature. ...

in 1974 and

Ekushey Padak Ekushey Padak () is the second highest civilian award in Bangladesh, introduced in memory of martyrs of the Bengali language movement of 1952. The award is given to recognize contributions in a number of fields, including culture, education, and e ...

in 2010 by the

Government of Bangladesh The government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh () is the central government of Bangladesh. The government was constituted by the Constitution of Bangladesh comprising the executive (the president, prime minister and cabinet), the ...

Background

Ahmed was born on 1 January 1931 at Islampur in

Old Dhaka Old Dhaka () is a term used to refer to the historic old city of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. It was founded in 1608 as Jahangirabad or Jahangirnagar (), the capital of Bengal Subah, Mughal Province of Bengal and named after the Mughal em ...

in the-then

Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal until 1937, later the Bengal Province, was the largest of all three presidencies of British India during Company rule in India, Company rule and later a Provinces o ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

into a

Mirza Mirza may refer to: * Mirza (name), a name derived from a historical royal and noble title * ''Mirza'' (lemur), a genus of giant mouse lemurs * "Mirza", a 1965 French-language song by Nino Ferrer * Mirza, Kamrup, a town in Assam, India * Mirza me ...

family. His mother was Jamila Khatun. His father, Mirza Fakir Mohammad, was the owner of a commercial theatre, Lion Theatre, at Islampur. Ahmed had three elder brothers – Nasir Ahmed, radio personality and journalist Nazir Ahmed and painter

Hamidur Rahman Hamidur Rahman (2 February 195328 October 1971) was a sepoy in Bangladesh Army during the Bangladesh Liberation War. Rahman was killed on 28 October 1971 at Dholoi during the Battle of Dhalai, Srimangal during an attempt to capture the Pakistan ...

. Ahmed studied at

Dhaka Collegiate School Dhaka Collegiate School is a secondary school in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is one of the oldest schools in Bangladesh. The students of collegiate school are called Collegiatian. History The school was established in Dhaka on 21 June 1835 as Dhaka E ...

. He completed his bachelor's in international studies from the

University of Dhaka The University of Dhaka (), also known as Dhaka University (DU), is a public university, public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Established in 1921, it is the oldest active university in the country. The University of Dhaka w ...

. He later studied for his master's at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

in 1954. In 1956, Ahmed moved back to

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 ...

and joined the public service.

Career

Ahmed, along with Shamsur Rahman and

Hasan Hafizur Rahman Hasan Hafizur Rahman (; 1932–1983) became the editor of the daily Bengali newspaper ''Danik Bangla'' right after the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. He also worked for the government as a high official and edited an account of the independence ...

, compose and wrote radio plays in the early 1950s. He played

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in 19th-century India. Khusrau K ...

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

and acted on stage in London and New York. He was the sitarist during the Europe tour of

Uday Shankar Uday Shankar (born Uday Shankar Choudhary; 8 December 1900 – 26 September 1977) was an Indian dancer and choreographer, best known for creating a fusion style of dance, adapting European theatrical techniques to Indian classical dance, imbu ...

. Ahmed served as the secretary of

Ministry of Youth and Sports A ministry of sports or ministry of youth and sports is a kind of government ministry found in certain countries with responsibility for the regulation of sports, particularly those participated in by young people. It is led by the minister of s ...

and the director general of

Bangladesh Television Bangladesh Television (), commonly known by its acronym BTV (), is the state-owned television network of Bangladesh. The network was originally established as the East Pakistan branch of Pakistan Television Corporation, Pakistan Television in 1 ...

. He served as guest lecturer in

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

, and other academies in Brazil, China, France, Germany, The Netherlands, India, Japan, Malaysia and Russia.

Personal life

Ahmed was married to Parvin Ahmed. He had two brothers - journalist Nazir Ahmed and sculptor

Works

* ''Kalbela'' (originally written as ''The Thing'' in English; 1962) * ''Milepost'' (1965) * ''Trishnay'' (1968) * ''Ek Din Protidin'' (1974) * ''Shesh Nawab'' (1988) Ahmed's plays was translated into French, German, Italian, Urdu and Punjabi and were staged by different troupes in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and United States. He created "Bishwa Natok", a program in Bangladesh Television, where he introduced and directed plays of international fame.

Awards

(1974) *

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

from the French Government (1993) * Shilpakala Academy Award (2007) *

(2010)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahmed, Sayeed 1931 births 2010 deaths University of Dhaka alumni Bangladeshi sitar players Writers from Dhaka Bangladeshi dramatists and playwrights Recipients of Bangla Academy Award Recipients of the Ekushey Padak