Anisuzzaman (18 February 1937 – 14 May 2020) was a Bangladeshi academic of

Bengali literature Bengali literature ( bn, বাংলা সাহিত্য, Bangla Sahityô) 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 ...

. He was an

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

who took part in the Language Movement (1952), participated in Mass Uprising (1969), and took part in the

Bangladesh Liberation War The Bangladesh Liberation War ( bn, মুক্তিযুদ্ধ, , also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, or simply the Liberation War in Bangladesh) was a revolution and armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali ...

(1971). He was a member of the Planning Commission to the Government of Bangladesh during the Bangladesh liberation war and a member of the National Education Commission set up by the government after liberation. He was inducted as a National Professor by the

Government of Bangladesh The Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh ( bn, গণপ্রজাতন্ত্রী বাংলাদেশ সরকার — ) is the central executive government of Bangladesh. The government was constituted by the Con ...

in 2018.

Early life and education

Anisuzzaman was born in

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, commer ...

in 1937. Along with his family, he moved to

Khulna Khulna ( bn, খুলনা, ) is the third-largest city in Bangladesh, after Dhaka and Chittagong. It is the administrative centre of Khulna District and Khulna Division. Khulna's economy is the third-largest in Bangladesh, contributing $53 ...

after the 1947 partition. After about a year they moved to Dhaka. His father ATM Moazzem was a homeopathy practitioner and his grandfather,

Sheikh Abdur Rahim Sheikh Abdur Rahim (1859 – 14 July 1931) was a Bengali writer and journalist. Early life Rahim was born in 1859 in Muhammadpur, Basirhat, 24-Parganas in the then British India. His mother died at a young age and he was subsequently raised by ...

, was a journalist and writer. His first piece of writing, a story, was published in ''Nowbahar'', a literary magazine, in 1950. He completed his HSC from

Jagannath College Jagannath University (JnU) ( bn, জগন্নাথ বিশ্ববিদ্যালয় ''Jagannātha biśbabidyālaẏa'', University Acrostic : জবি or JnU) is a state-funded public university at 9–10, Chittaranjan Avenue in S ...

. He obtained his bachelor's in 1956 and master's in 1957 in Bengali from the

University of Dhaka The University of Dhaka (also known as Dhaka University, or DU) is a public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is the oldest university in Bangladesh. The university opened its doors to students on July 1st 1921. Currently i ...

. At the university, he worked with

Muhammad Shahidullah Muhammad Shahidullah ( bn, মুহম্মদ শহীদুল্লাহ; 10 July 1885 – 13 July 1969) was a Bengali linguist, philologist, educationist, and writer. In 2004, he was ranked number 16 in BBC's poll of the Greatest Benga ...

, Muhammad Abdul Hye and

Munier Chowdhury Munier Choudhury (27 November 192514 December 1971) was a Bangladeshi educationist, playwright, literary critic and political dissident. He was a victim of the mass killing of Bangladeshi intellectuals in 1971. He was awarded Independence Day A ...

. He completed his Ph.D. in 1962 at the age of 25 from the same university. He was a post-doctoral fellow at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

during 1964–65 and a Commonwealth Academic Staff fellow at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degr ...

(1974–75).

Career

Anisuzzaman served as a faculty member at the

during 1959–69, 1985–2003 and 2005–08. He taught Bengali at the

University of Chittagong The University of Chittagong ( bn, চট্টগ্রাম বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়, caṭṭagram bishwabidyalay) is a public research university with multidisciplinary faculties situated across a 1754-acres hilly landmas ...

during 1969–85. From 1978 to 1983, he was associated with research projects of the

United Nations University The (UNU) is the think tank and academic arm of the United Nations. Headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan, with diplomatic status as a UN institution, its mission is to help resolve global issues related to human development and welfare thr ...

. He was a visiting fellow at the

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

(1994),

North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The univers ...

(1995) and

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a public collegiate state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered one of best state research university all over India every yea ...

(2010), and a visiting professor at the Visva-Bharati (2008–09, 2011). Anisuzzaman was a member of the Planning Commission to the Government of Bangladesh during the

Bangladesh liberation war The Bangladesh Liberation War ( bn, মুক্তিযুদ্ধ, , also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, or simply the Liberation War in Bangladesh) was a revolution and armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali ...

and a member of the National Education Commission set up by the government after liberation. He was responsible for the Bengali language part of the

Constitution of Bangladesh The Constitution of Bangladesh ( bn, বাংলাদেশের সংবিধান — ), officially the Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh ( bn, গণপ্রজাতন্ত্রী বাংলাদেশের ...

adopted in November 1972. He served as Chairman of the Trustee Board of the

Nazrul Institute The Nazrul Institute is Bangladesh's national institute, established in February 1985. Its headquarters are located in Kabi Bhaban in Dhanmondi, Dhaka, Bangladesh. It fulfills a number of roles; promoting the literary work of the poet Kazi Naz ...

and has been the president of the

Bangla Academy The Bangla Academy ( bn, বাংলা একাডেমি, ) is an autonomous institution funded by the Bangladesh government to foster the Bengali language, literature and culture, to develop and implement national language policy and to d ...

since 2011.

Activism

Anisuzzaman took part in the Language Movement (1952), participated in Mass Uprising (1969), took part in the War of Liberation (1971) and was the secretary of the Bangladesh Teachers' Association in 1971. He was involved in the anti-autocracy movement (1990). In 2015, Anisuzzaman received death threats from Islamic extremists.

Literary works

Awards

Bangla Academy Literary Award The Bangla Academy Literary Award ( bn, বাংলা একাডেমি সাহিত্য পুরস্কার; ''Bangla Academy Shahitya Puroshkar''), is given by the Bangla Academy of Bangladesh in recognition of creative genius i ...

for research (1970) *

Ekushey Padak Ekushey Padak ( bn, একুশে পদক; lit. "Twentyfirst Award") is the second highest civilian award in Bangladesh, introduced in memory of the martyrs of the Bengali Language Movement of 1952. The award is given to recognize contribut ...

, an award given by the State, for his contribution to education (1985) *

Ananda Puraskar The Ananda Puraskar () is an award for Bengali literature awarded annually by the ABP Group to writers using Bengali, usually from West Bengal, India. History The award can be traced to a comment by Annada Shankar Ray ruing the absence of lite ...

for publishing a series of 14 cassettes titled ''Oitijjher Ongikar'' (1994) * Honorary D.Lit, Rabindra Bharati University, Calcutta (2005) * Sarojini Basu Award, University of Calcutta (2008) * Pandit Iswarchandra Vidyasagar Gold Plaque, Asiatic Society of Kolkata (2011) *

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

, on contribution of literature and education (2014) *

Independence Day Award The Independence Day Award ( bn, স্বাধীনতা পদক), also termed Independence Award ( bn, স্বাধীনতা পুরস্কার), Swadhinata Padak, and Swadhinata Puroskar, is the highest state award given by t ...

for literature in 2015 by the

* Nilkanta Sarkar Gold Medal, University of Dhaka * Dawood Prize for literature, Pakistan Writers' Guild * Star Lifetime Award (2016) *

for his autobiography ''Bipula Prithibi'' (The Vast World) (2017) * Jagattarini Medal, The University of Calcutta * Khan Bahadur Ahsanullah Gold Medal 2018 * SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) Literature Award 2019

Personal life

Anisuzzaman was married to Siddiqua Zaman. He was an secular humanist, having lost faith in organised religion during his youth.

Death

Anisuzzaman died from multi organ failure at Combined Military Hospital in Dhaka on 14 May 2020. He was admitted to Universal Medical College Hospital after falling sick about three weeks prior to his death. Later he was shifted to CMH as his condition was not improving. Sample was collected for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quick ...

test after his death and it came positive. He is buried at Azimpur Graveyard in Dhaka in line with the guidelines for the burial of COVID-19 patients during the

COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh The COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The virus was confirmed to have spread to Bangladesh in March 2020. The first t ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anisuzzaman 1937 births 2020 deaths Bengali-language writers University of Dhaka alumni University of Dhaka faculty University of Chittagong faculty Bengali writers Recipients of the Ekushey Padak Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in literature & education Recipients of the Ananda Purashkar Recipients of the Independence Day Award Advisors of Caretaker Government of Bangladesh Recipients of Bangla Academy Award Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League central committee members Bengali Muslims 21st-century Bengalis 20th-century Bengalis 20th-century Bangladeshi writers 20th-century Bangladeshi male writers Writers from Kolkata Writers from Dhaka