Vijayray Kalyanray Vaidya was a Gujarati critic, biographer and essayist. After studying languages, he was engaged in Gujarati literary journalism and later criticism. He edited several magazines and wrote works of criticism, biography and essays.

Biography

Vijayray Vaidya was born on 7 April 1897 in

Bhavnagar Bhavnagar is a city and the headquarters of Bhavnagar district in the Indian state of Gujarat. It was founded in 1723 by Bhavsinhji Gohil. It was the capital of Bhavnagar State, which was a princely state before it was merged into the Dominion ...

. He completed a B.A. in English and Sanskrit from Wilson College, Bombay in 1920. He served as a cashier in Sir Lallubhai Shamaldas Bank, Bombay from 1920 to 1921. He joined Gujarati periodical, ''Chetna''. He served as an editor of ''Hindustan Weekly'' of Bombay and a subeditor of daily from 1921 to 1922. On invitation of K. M. Munshi, he served as an in-charge editor of ''Gujarat''. He served with ''Sahitya Sansad'' from 1922 to 1924. He started '' Kaumudi'', a quarterly and later a monthly. After it was stopped, he started ''Manasi'' in 1935. He taught Gujarati at M.T.B. College,

Surat Surat (Gujarati Language, Gujarati: ) is a city in the western Indian States and territories of India, state of Gujarat. The word Surat directly translates to ''face'' in Urdu, Gujarati language, Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of t ...

from 1937 to 1949 or 1952 along with editing ''Manasi''. ''Manasi'' was published till 1960 with some breaks. He presided over the criticism department of

Gujarati Sahitya Parishad Gujarati Sahitya Parishad () is a literary organisation for the promotion of Gujarati literature located in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. It was founded by Ranjitram Mehta with the aim of creating literature appealing to all classes of society and ...

in Surat in 1965. He was a founder member of All India P.E.N. Centre. He edited ''Rohini'' in last period of life but had little success. He died on 17 April 1974.

Works

He had long career of literary journalism and criticism. His ''Sahityadarshan'' (1935) is about theory of literary criticism and ''Jui ane Ketaki'' (1939) is about applied criticism. ''Nhanalal Kavini Jivandrishti'' is a criticism of works of

Nanalal Dalpatram Kavi Nanalal Dalpatram Kavi (16 March 1877 – 9 January 1946) was an Indian writer and poet in Gujarati language of Gujarati literature. His name is sometimes spelled as Nhanalal. Biography Nanalal was born on 16 March 1877 in Ahmedabad as the fo ...

. ''Gatashatak nu Sahitya'' (1959) is about the first hundred years of the modern Gujarati literature. ''Leela Suka Pana'' (1942) had research articles. ''Parasna Sparshe'' (1963), ''Neelam Ane Pokhraj'' (1962) and ''Manek Ane Akik'' (1967) are the collections of criticism. ''Gujarati Sahityani Rooprekha'' (1943) is about history of Gujarati literature. He wrote essays under pen name Vinodkant. His collections of essays are ''Prabhatna Rang'' (1927), ''Najuk Savari'' (1938), ''Udata Pan'' (1945), ''Dariyavni Mithi Lahar'' (1965). His ''Khuski Ane Tari'' (1933) is a travelogue of his visit to

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

and

Rangoon Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the List of capitals of Myanmar, capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the State Peace and Dev ...

. ''Sukratarak'' (1944) is a biography of Navalram Pandya. ''Saurashtrano Mantrishwar'' (1959) is a biography of Gaurishankar Udayshankar Oza, the

dewan ''Dewan'' (also known as ''diwan'', sometimes spelled ''devan'' or ''divan'') designated a powerful government official, minister, or ruler. A ''dewan'' was the head of a state institution of the same name (see Divan). Diwans belonged to the el ...

Bhavnagar State Bhavnagar State was a princely state with 13 Gun Salutes during the British Raj. It was part of Kathiawar Agency in Saurashtra (region), Saurashtra. The State of Bhavnagar covered an area of 2,961 sq. miles and had a population of 618,429 i ...

. ''Vinayakni Atmakatha'' (1970) is an autobiographical work. During later years of his life, he started enormous task of compiling an encyclopedia of world literature single handed. He could publish only first volume of his work, ''Sahitya Priyano Sathi'' (1967).

Awards

He was awarded

Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak, also known as the Ranjitram Gold Medal, was founded by Gujarat Sahitya Sabha and is considered the highest literary award in Gujarati literature. The award is named after renowned Gujarati writer Ranjitram Mehta. It is a ...

in 1931 and Narmad Suvarna Chandrak in 1955.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vaidya, Vijayray Indian literary critics Writers from Gujarat Gujarati-language writers People from Bhavnagar district Indian male journalists 20th-century Indian biographers 1897 births 1974 deaths Indian editors Indian male essayists 20th-century Indian essayists 20th-century Indian journalists Recipients of the Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak 20th-century Indian male writers Indian male biographers