Ferdousi Mazumder (; born 18 June 1943) is a Bangladeshi film, television and stage actress. She was awarded

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 ...

(1998,

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 ...

and

(2020) 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 ...

. As of 2009, on stage she has given over 1200 performances of about 35 plays, mostly for her own group, ''Theatre''.

Early life

Mazumder was an intermediate student of Eden College. She earned her master's degree in both

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

and

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

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 ...

Career

Mazumder started her drama career through her brother,

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 1971 killing of Bengali intellectuals, mass killing of Bangladeshi intellectuals in 1 ...

, a playwright and novelist. She first acted in the drama ''Daktar Abdullahar Karkhana'', written by

Shawkat Osman Sheikh Azizur Rahman (known as Shawkat Osman; 2 January 1917 – 14 May 1998) was a Bangladeshi novelist and short story writer. He won the Bangla Academy Literary Award in 1962, the Ekushey Padak in 1983 and the Independence Day Award in 1997. ...

, which was a production of the then Iqbal Hall of the

. Ferdousi also acted at the very first televised drama of

Bangladesh Television Bangladesh Television ( bn, বাংলাদেশ টেলিভিশন), commonly known by its acronym BTV ( bn, বিটিভি), is the state-owned television network of Bangladesh. The network was originally established as the East ...

, ''Ektala Dotala'' (1964). Over the years, she performed in plays like ''Kokilara'', a one-woman play, ''Eka'', a one-character non-verbal play, ''Tamoshi'', written by

Nilima Ibrahim Neelima Ibrahim (11 October 1921 – 18 June 2002) was a Bangladeshi educationist, littérateur and social worker. She is well known for her scholarship on Bengali literature but even more so for her depiction of raped and tortured women in the ...

and others. She directed five stage plays including ''Meherjan Arekbar'', ''Tahara Tokhono'', ''Chithi'' and ''Dui Bon''. After the independence of Bangladesh, in 1972, a group of ''Chhatra Shikkhak Natya Goshthi'' members formed a theatre troupe calling it ''Theatre''. Majumdar was one of the founding members of the troupe.

Personal life

Mazumder is married to

Ramendu Majumdar Ramendu Majumdar (born 9 August 1941) is a Bangladeshi actor, stage director and theater producer. In 2011, he was elected president of the International Theatre Institute (ITI) for the second time. He was the second Asian to be elected to this p ...

since around 1970. Together they have a daughter, Tropa Mazumder. Her father, Khan Bahadur Abdul Halim Chowdhury, was a district magistrate. Her brother

was an intellectual. Another brother,

Kabir Chowdhury Kabir Chowdhury (9 February 1923 – 13 December 2011) was a Bangladeshi academic, essayist, materialist, translator, cultural worker and civil society activist. Early life and education Chowdhury was born in Brahmanbaria of the then Tipperah d ...

, was a professor and intellectual.

Awards

(2020) *

(1998) * William Kerry Award (1998) * Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy Award for Best Actor (1978) * First National TV Award for Best Acting (1975) * Sequence Award of Merit for performance in TV for a decade

Works

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mazumder, Ferdousi 1943 births Living people Bangladeshi stage actresses Bangladeshi television actresses Bangladeshi film actresses 20th-century Bangladeshi actresses Recipients of the Ekushey Padak in arts Honorary Fellows of Bangla Academy Recipients of the Independence Day Award University of Dhaka alumni Eden Mohila College alumni Place of birth missing (living people) Meril-Prothom Alo Lifetime Achievement Award winners Best Supporting Actress Bachsas Award winners People from Chatkhil Upazila