Binoy Ghosh (14 June 1917 – 24 July 1980) was a journalist, sociologist, writer, literary critic and researcher. His ''Paschim Banger Sanskriti'' won the

Rabindra Puraskar The Rabindra Puraskar (also Rabindra Smriti Puraskar) is the highest honorary literary award given in the Indian state of West Bengal. This award is named after the famous Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore and is administered by the Government of W ...

in 1959.Sengupta, Subodh Chandra and Bose, Anjali (editors), 1976/1998, ''Sansad Bangali Charitabhidhan'' (Biographical dictionary) Vol I, , page 345,

Formative years

Binoy Ghosh, son of Biseswar Ghosh, who hailed from

Jessore Jessore ( bn, যশোর, jôshor, ), officially Jashore, is a city of Jessore District situated in Khulna Division. It is situated in the south-western part of Bangladesh. It is the administrative centre (headquarter) of the eponymous district ...

, now in Bangladesh, graduated from

Asutosh College Asutosh College (Bengali: আশুতোষ কলেজ) is a college affiliated to the University of Calcutta, situated in Southern Kolkata, close to the Jatin Das Park Metro Station, gate No. 2. It was established in 1916 as the South Subu ...

, Kolkata, and completed his post-graduation in Ancient Indian History and Anthropology from the

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate State university (India), state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered ...

. He worked as a journalist in the editorial departments of ''Forward'', ''Jugantar'', ''

Dainik Basumati ''Dainik Basumati'' was a Bengali daily published from Kolkata by the Basumati Corporation Limited. It was first published on 6 August 1914 and stopped its publication in 2003. History In 1881, Upendranath Mukhopadhyay started the Basumati Sah ...

'' and ''Arani''.

Writings

In his writings in Bengali, Binoy Ghosh covered both political and social and cultural topics. His writings were influenced by

Marxist thought Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialectical ...

. On one hand, he wrote such books as ''Shilpa Sanskrti O Samaj'' (Industry, Culture and Society, 1940), ''Banglar Nabajagrti'' (Bengal Renaissance, 1948), ''Vidyasagar O Bangali Samaj'' (Vidyasagar and Bengali Society, 1957, in 4 volumes), ''Bidrohi Derozio'' (Rebel Derozio, 1961), ''Sutanuti Samachar'' (News of Sutanuti, 1962), ''Banglar Samajik Itihaser Dhara'' (Trends of Social History of Bengal, 1968), ''Banglar Bidvat Samaj'' (Learned Society of Bengal, 1973), ''Kolkata Shaharer Itibritta'' (History of Kolkata Town, 1975), ''Banglar Lokasanskrti O Samajtattva'' (Folk Culture and Sociology of Bengal, 1979) and ''Town Kolkatar Kadcha'' (Chronicle of Kolkata Town, 1961). On the other hand, his writings include ''Antarjatik Rajniti'' (International Politics), ''Soviet Sabhyata'' (Soviet Civilisation 2 vols), ''Fascism O Janayuddha'' (Fascism and People's War), ''Soviet Samaj O Sanskrti'' (Soviet Society and Culture) and ''Madhyabitta Bidroha'' (Middle-Class Rebellion). In 1957, he published ''Paschim Banger Sanskriti'' (Culture of West Bengal), based on extensive tours and field surveys right across West Bengal. It won the Rabindra Puraskar in 1959.

Other activities

Binoy Ghosh was always interested in literature, but in later life, spent more time in literary activities than the other fields of his interest. Indian People's Theatre Association staged a play ''Laboratory'' written by him. He was a regular member of IPTA's music group. He published a collection of short stories, ''Dustbin'', and a novel ''304''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ghosh, Binoy Indian sociologists Bengali writers 1917 births 1980 deaths Writers from Kolkata