Dinkar Gangadhar Kelkar (January 10, 1896 – March 17, 1990) was an Indian writer, editor, art collector and historian. He is best remembered for establishing the Raja Dinkar Kelkar Museum in

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...

Biography

Born on January 10, 1896, into the

Chitpavan The Chitpavan Brahmin or Konkanastha Brahmin is a Hindu Maharashtrian Brahmin community inhabiting Konkan, the coastal region of the state of Maharashtra. Initially working as messengers and spies in the late seventeenth century, the community ...

Brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (guru ...

Kelkar ''

gharana In Hindustani music (North Indian classical music), a ''gharānā'' is a system of social organisation in the Indian subcontinent, linking musicians or dancers by lineage or apprenticeship, and more importantly by adherence to a particular mus ...

'' of Kasarveli, to Gangadhar and Uma Kelkar (née Karve), Kelkar was the youngest of four sons. Beginning in 1915, Kelkar began publishing books of poetry titled ''Adnyatvasi'' ( mr, अज्ञातवासी; ) in parts one through three. In the 1950s, they were included as reference texts for the

University of Bombay The University of Mumbai is a collegiate, state-owned, public research university in Mumbai. The University of Mumbai is one of the largest universities in the world. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. Ratan Tata is the appointed ...

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree. He would also go on to edit part of the second anthology of

Bhaskar Ramchandra Tambe Bhaskar Ramchandra Tambe (Devanagari: भास्कर रामचंद्र तांबे) (1873–1941) was a Marathi poet from Maharashtra, India. Tambe was born on October 27, 1873 in the town of Mugawali near Gwalior. In 1893, h ...

's poems in 1935, and would also go on to edit

Pralhad Keshav Atre Prahlad Keshav Atre () (13 August 1898 – 13 June 1969), popularly known as Āchārya Atre, was a prominent Marathi writer, poet, educationist, founder–editor of ''Maratha'' (a Marathi language newspaper), and above all, a noted orator. Bio ...

's poem ''Zenduchi Phule''. He was also one of the founders of the Sharda Mandir High School in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

. In the 1920s, Kelkar began an extensive historical collection of photographs, books, paintings, carvings, textiles, manuscripts, almanacs, toys, puppets, letters, scrolls, scriptures, weaponry, instruments, carpets, metallic works, furnishings and fixtures. He established the Raja Dinkar Kelkar Museum in Pune for the display of these artifacts. He named the museum after his deceased son. He served as the museums's director until the

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took over management of the museum in April 1985. In 1978, he acquired a

Doctor of Literature and Philosophy The Doctor of Literature and Philosophy, or ''DLitt et Phil'', is a doctoral advanced research degree offered by a number of leading universities in South Africa, such as UJ, the University of Johannesburg; and UNISA, the University of South Africa. ...

degree from the

University of Pune Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU), formerly the University of Poona, is a collegiate public state university located in the city of Pune, India. It was established in 1949, and is spread over a campus in the neighbourhood of Ganeshk ...

, was a member of the

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. He was the recipient of an award by the Indian Centre for Excellence, and briefly worked as the chief curator at

Salar Jung Museum The Salar Jung Museum is an art museum located at Dar-ul-Shifa, on the southern bank of the Musi River, India, Musi River in the city of Hyderabad, Telangana, India. It is one of the List of museums in India, notable National Museums of India. ...

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. Kelkar died on March 17, 1990. He had married Kamala (née Sitabai Ukidwe) and the couple had had a daughter, Jayaprabha (

married name When a person (traditionally the wife in many cultures) assumes the family name of their spouse, in some countries that name replaces the person's previous surname, which in the case of the wife is called the maiden name ("birth name" is also used ...

Rekha Ranade) and a son, Raja (1932–1941). Kelkar was a distant cousin of P. K. Kelkar who belonged to the same ''

'', and was also a distant relative of Panditrao and

Dnyaneshwar Agashe Dnyaneshwar Agashe ( mr, ज्ञानेश्वर आगाशे; IAST: Jñāneśvara Āgāśe; 17 April 1942 – 2 January 2009) was an Indian businessman, cricketer, cricket administrator and philanthropist. He is best remembered for f ...

through their mother.

List of works

As writer

*''Adnyatvasi'' (1915) arts 1, 2, 3*''Padmashri'' (1981)

As editor

*''Tambe Yanche Samagra Kavita'' (1935), an anthology of

's poems, by Dr. Madhavrao Patwardhan *''Zenduchi Phule'' (1969) by

References

1896 births 1990 deaths Marathi people Indian art collectors Indian curators Indian editors Indian poets 20th-century Indian historians 20th-century Indian male writers Marathi-language writers {{India-writer-stub