Golam Mostofa ( bn, গোলাম মোস্তফা; 1897 – 13 October 1964) was a

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 ...

writer and poet.

Early life and education

Mostofa was born in 1897, in the village of Manoharpur in Shailkupa Thana, which was a part of the District of Jessore but presently in

Jhenaidah District Jhenaidah District ( bn, ঝিনাইদহ) is a district in southwestern Bangladesh. It is a part of the Khulna Division. It has an area of . It is bordered by Kushtia District to the north, Jessore District and West Bengal, India to the so ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

. He was born to a

Bengali Muslim Bengali Muslims ( bn, বাঙালি মুসলমান; ) are adherents of Islam who ethnically, linguistically and genealogically identify as Bengalis. Comprising about two-thirds of the global Bengali population, they are the sec ...

family of literature-enthusiasts that were also proficient in

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 ...

and

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

, in addition to

. His father, Golam Rabbani, and his grandfather, Qazi Golam Sarwar, were both

folk poets Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Folk ...

. Mostofa finished his primary education in Damukdia, then spent two years studying in Fazilpur. He passed the Entrance exam in 1913 from Shailkupa High School. He passed BA from Ripon College in 1918 and BT from David Hare Training College in 1922.

Career

Mostofa started teaching at

Barrackpore Barrackpore (also known as Barrackpur) is a city and a municipality of urban Kolkata of North 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is also a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA ...

Government High School in January 1920. Four years later, he transferred to the Calcutta Hare School and later the

Calcutta Madrasa Aliah University (AU; ur, جامعہ عالیہ) is a West Bengal, state government controlled autonomous university in New Town, West Bengal, India. Previously known as Mohammedan College of Calcutta, it was elevated to university in 2008. ...

. He became the Deputy Head at the Baliganj Government Demonstration High School, eventually become the first Muslim headmaster of the school. In 1940, he moved to

Bankura Bankura () is a city and a municipality in the state of West Bengal, India. It is the headquarters of the Bankura district. Etymology In the Mahabharata, Bankura was described as Suhmobhumi. The word or (in Nagari: rāḍh) was introduced af ...

District School and numerous other schools, before retiring as headmaster of Faridpur Zila School in 1949. He was the secretary of the

East Bengal ur, , common_name = East Bengal , status = Province of the Dominion of Pakistan , p1 = Bengal Presidency , flag_p1 = Flag of British Bengal.svg , s1 = East ...

Government's Language Reform Committee, formed in 1949. He believed in the

two-nation theory The two-nation theory is an ideology of religious nationalism that influenced the decolonisation of the British Raj in South Asia. According to this ideology, Indian Muslims and Indian Hindus are two separate nations, with their own customs, ...

that formed the basis for the ideals of

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

, and supported

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Language Movement of 1952. Islamic heritage was one of his inspirations. His book ''Biswanabi'' (1942), a biography based on the life of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, provided him with wide recognition.

Works

Mostofa wrote his first poem, ''

Adrianople Edirne (, ), formerly known as Adrianople or Hadrianopolis (Greek: Άδριανούπολις), is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, ...

Uddhar'', in tenth grade, which got published by

The Mohammadi ''The Mohammadi'' was a Bengali language monthly art journal. It was founded by Mohammad Akram Khan who worked as its editor. History ''The Mohammadi'' was founded in August 1927 in Kolkata, Bengal Presidency, British Raj by Mohammad Akram Khan. ...

. After that, he wrote for forty-eight years. His works included poetry, biographies, novels, articles and translations of

and

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Tarana-i-Pakistan Tarana-i-Pakistan ( bn, তারানা-ই-পাকিস্তান), or more popularly known as Pakistan Zindabad ( bn, পাকিস্তান জিন্দাবাদ), was an alternative national anthem sung by East Pakistan du ...

(1956) * Bani Adam (1958) * Geeti Shonchalon (1968) * Gulistan * Prarthona * Kishore * Qobor * He Khoda Doyamoy Rahmanur Rahim * Badshah Tumi Deen O Duniyar, Nikhiler Chiro Shundor Srishti * Amar Muhammad Rasul ;Biography * Bishwanabi (1942) ;Novels * Ruper Nesha * Bhangabuk * Ek Mon Ek Pran ;Others * Islam O Communism (1946) * Islame Jehad (1947) * Amar Chintadhara (1952) * Maru Dulal ;Translations *

Musaddas Musaddas () is a genre of Urdu poetry in which each unit consists of 6 lines- sestain- (''misra''). Famous early writers employing this form are Mir Anis and Dabeer. Maulana Altaf Husain Hali and Waheed Akhtar Syed Waheed Akhtar ( ur, ) (12 A ...

-e-

Hali Hali may refer to: *Hali I of the Maldives (died 1268), Sultan of Maldives from 1266 to 1268 * Hali II of the Maldives (died 1288), Sultan of Maldives from 1278 to 1288 *a medieval Latinisation of Arabic Ali (also ''Haly'') ** Haly Abenragel, com ...

(1941) * Kalam-e-Iqbal (1957) * Shikwa O Jowab-e-Shikwa (1960) *

Al Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , sing.: ...

(1958) *Joy Porajoy ( Ikhwan As-Safa)

Awards

Sitara-i-Imtiaz The Sitara-e-Imtiaz () also spelled as Sitara-i-Imtiaz, is the third-highest (in the order of "Imtiaz") honour and civilian award in the State of Pakistan. It recognizes individuals who have made an "especially meritorious contribution to the ...

*President Medal

Personal life

Mostafa had four sons and three daughters. One of the sons, Mostafa Monowar, became a puppeteer and former director general of the state-run

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 ...

. Kobi Golam Mostafa's youngest son Mostafa Farooq (Pasha) was the first pianist in Bangladesh. He studied in Royal College of Music,London England.In the year of celebration of 100-anniversary of Karol Szymanowski in Poland. The Minister of Culture and Art awarded Mr. Farooq a prestigious commemorial medal as a proof of appreciation for introducing the Polish Classical music to the nation. He came back to Bangladesh after completing his bachelor's in Music and started his profession as a Music Teacher. Kobi Golam Mostafa is the grandfather of Syed Mainul Hossain, an architect who designed

Jatiyo Smriti Soudho The National Martyrs' Memorial ( bn, জাতীয় স্মৃতিসৌধ ''Jatiyo Sriti Soudho'') is the national monument of Bangladesh, set up in the memory of those who died in the Bangladesh War of Independence of 1971, which bro ...

Savar Savar ( bn, সাভার) is a city in central Bangladesh, located in Dhaka District in the Dhaka Division, division of Dhaka. It is the closest city from Dhaka. It is also a part of Greater Dhaka conurbation which forms the Greater Dhaka, D ...

. He is the great-grandfather of Bangladeshi software engineer and

Academy Scientific and Technical Award The Scientific and Technical Awards are three different Honorary Awards that are given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) during the annual Academy Awards season. The Awards have been presented since the 4th Academy Awards ...

winner Nafees Bin Zafar.

Death and legacy

Mostafa died on 13 October 1964 at the age of 67, of cerebral thrombosis. In 2014, the ancestral home of Mostafa in

Jhenaidah Jhenaidah ( bn, ঝিনাইদহ) is a city in the Khulna Division of south-western Bangladesh. Jhenaidah is the headquarters of Jhenaidah Sadar Upazila and Jhenaidah District. The city has a population of about 252 thousand, making it the ...

was under threat from two land grabbers, who claimed partial ownership of the land. Many artifacts used by Mostofa and valuable photographs drawn by his second son Mostafa Aziz, sole artist of the first pencil sketch of the poet, were found to be in a pitiable condition at the village. Though ''Kabi Golam Mustafa Memorial Library'' received a concrete building at the yard of the poet's house in 2008 implemented by the Zila Parishad, Jhenidah, at a cost of Tk 1.70 million, there are, virtually, no reading materials were found to be there. Some parental property of the poet, including his paternal land and trees are secretly being sold, reliable sources.