Gokulananda Mahapatra (24 May 1922 – 10 July 2013) was an Indian scientist and
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
writer, who popularized science in the
Odia language. Mahapatra has authored over 95 science fiction and children science books.
Some of his notable contributions are ''Krutrima Upagraha'', ''Prithibi bahare Manisha'', ''Chandra ra Mrutyu'', ''Nishabda Godhuli'', ''Madam Curie'' and ''Nila Chakra Bala Sapare''. He was the founding member of Orissa Bigyana Prachar Samhiti with the objective of making science popular in the state of Orissa. He received
Orissa Sahitya Akademy Award for his book ''E juga ra sreshtha abiskara''.
Early life and career
Mahapatra was born in
Bhadrak,
Odisha. He went on to do
MSc
MSC may refer to:
Computers
* Message Sequence Chart
* Microelectronics Support Centre of UK Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
* MIDI Show Control
* MSC Malaysia (formerly known as Multimedia Super Corridor)
* USB mass storage device class (USB MSC ...
from the University of Calcutta and was honored with
PhD PHD or PhD may refer to:
* Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification
Entertainment
* '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series
* ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic
* Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group
** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...
from the Utkal University. He also pursued FIC (Fellow in Chemistry) degree at
Brandeis University (Boston, MA). He retired as the Head of the Department of
Ravenshaw University.
[
]
Honours and awards
Mahapatra was awarded the Kalinga Samman
The Kalinga Prize for the Popularization of Science is an award given by UNESCO for exceptional skill in presenting scientific ideas to lay people. It was created in 1952, following a donation from Biju Patnaik, Founder President of the Kalinga ...
in 2011,
and ''R K Parija Samman Saala Samman''
[ for his contribution to science literature in ]Odia
Odia, also spelled Oriya or Odiya, may refer to:
* Odia people in Odisha, India
* Odia language, an Indian language, belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family
* Odia alphabet, a writing system used for the Odia languag ...
.
Publications
Science fiction
* ''Pruthibi bahare manisha''
* ''Krutrima Upagraha''
* ''Chandrara Mrutyu''
* ''Nishabda Godhuli''
* ''Sunara Odisha''
* ''Mrutyu eka matrutwa ra''
* ''Nishchala pruthibi''
* ''Mrutyu rashmi''
Stories
* ''Udanta thalia''
* ''Chaturtha parisara''
* ''Bigyana bichitra''
* ''Bigyanara srestha abiskara''
* ''E jugara srestha abiskara''
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahapatra, Gokulananda
1922 births
2013 deaths
People from Bhadrak
Scientists from Odisha
Odia-language writers
Odia novelists
Indian science fiction writers
Novelists from Odisha
Recipients of the Odisha Sahitya Akademi Award
20th-century Indian novelists
21st-century Indian novelists