Ameena Ahmad Ahuja is an Indian painter,
calligrapher
Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...
, writer and linguist, known for her Urdu poetry-inspired art works.
Biography
Ameena Ahmad Ahuja was born to a British mother and
Nuruddin Ahmed
Nuruddin Ahmed (1904–1975) was an Indian lawyer and three-time mayor of Delhi. Born in 1904 in Delhi in a wealthy family to Principal Mushtaq Ahmed Zahidie, of Sadiq Eggerton College, Bhawalpur, India, he did his early education at St. Xavie ...
, a barrister and litterateur. She did her training in art at the
Slade School of Art
The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...
in London.
She is a former member of faculty of the Department of Russian at the
Jawaharlal Nehru University
Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) is a public major research university located in New Delhi, India. It was established in 1969 and named after Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister. The university is known for leading faculties and r ...
(JNU)
and, besides Russian, she is proficient in languages such as
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 ...
, German, French,
Hindi
Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...
and English.
Her career also covered stints at
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
as a lecturer of poetry and as an
Artist-in-residence at the
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
and her exhibitions have been staged at many places in India
and abroad including Moscow, Tokyo, Venezuela, Columbia and New York.
She has served as the official translator during the visits of Soviet dignitaries including
Alexei Kosygin
Alexei Nikolayevich Kosygin ( rus, Алексе́й Никола́евич Косы́гин, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsʲej nʲɪkɐˈla(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ kɐˈsɨɡʲɪn; – 18 December 1980) was a Soviet statesman during the Cold War. He served as the Premi ...
,
Nikolai Bulganin
Nikolai Alexandrovich Bulganin (russian: Никола́й Алекса́ндрович Булга́нин; – 24 February 1975) was a Soviet politician who served as Minister of Defense (1953–1955) and Premier of the Soviet Union (1955–19 ...
,
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...
and
Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev; uk, links= no, Леонід Ілліч Брежнєв, . (19 December 1906– 10 November 1982) was a Soviet politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union between 1964 and ...
to India.
She was married to Vishnu Ahuja, a diplomat and former ambassador to the USSR and had opportunities to visit many countries, accompanying her husband, who has since died.
Publications
She is the author of the book, ''Calligraphy in Islam'', a text in
, published 2009 by
Penguin India
Penguins (order Sphenisciformes , family Spheniscidae ) are a group of aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is found north of the Equator. Highly adapt ...
.
Awards and honours
The Government of India awarded her the fourth highest civilian honour of the
Padma Shri
Padma Shri ( IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conf ...
, in 2009, for her contributions to Arts.
References
Further reading
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahuja, Ameena Ahmad
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
20th-century Indian linguists
20th-century Indian Muslims
20th-century Indian painters
20th-century Indian women artists
Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art
Columbia University faculty
Harvard University faculty
Indian art writers
Indian calligraphers
Indian women linguists
Indian women painters
Academic staff of Jawaharlal Nehru University
Place of birth missing (living people)
Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts
Women calligraphers
21st-century Indian women writers
21st-century Indian writers
21st-century Indian linguists
21st-century Indian women artists
20th-century women writers