Govind Mishra (born 1 August 1939) is an Indian novelist, who has written more than 53 books. He was also a civil servant with

Indian Revenue Service The Indian Revenue Service (IAST: ), often abbreviated as IRS, is an Indian government agency that is primarily responsible for collecting and administering direct and indirect taxes. As a central civil service under Group A of the executiv ...

(IRS) and retired as

Chairperson, Central Board of Direct Taxes The Chairperson, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) is the Civil Services of India, senior-most IRS (IT) civil servant in the Government of India. The Chairperson of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) is the Special Secretary to the Governme ...

in 1997. Over the years, he has written 11 novels, 14 short story collections, five travelogues, five literary essays collection, a poem collection and 2 story books for children. He has been awarded the most prestigious Hindi awards namely

Vyas Samman The Vyas Samman is a literary award in India, first awarded in 1991. It is awarded annually by the K.K. Birla Foundation and includes a cash payout of Rs 4,00,000 (as of 2019). To be eligible for the award, the literary work must be in the Hi ...

(1998) and

Sahitya Akademi Award The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the ...

(2008). He received

Saraswati Samman The Saraswati Samman is an annual award for outstanding prose or poetry literary works in any of the 22 languages of India listed in Schedule VIII of the Constitution of India. It is named after the Hindu goddess of knowledge, Saraswati. The Saras ...

for the year 2013 for his book ''Dhool Paudho Par'' published in 2008. This honour made him the second Hindi author to receive the honour after

Harivansh Rai Bachchan Harivansh Rai Bachchan (; 27 November 1907 19 December 2002) was an Indian poet and writer of the Nayi Kavita literary movement (romantic upsurge) of early 20th century Hindi literature. He was also a poet of the Hindi Kavi Sammelan. He is be ...

in 1991.

Biography

He was born on 1 August 1939 in

Atarra Atarra is a town and a municipal board in Banda district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It is located at a distance of 32 km from Banda. The town is divided into 25 wards. Geography Atarra is located at and has an average eleva ...

, Banda, United Provinces (now Uttar Pradesh). His parents were primary school teachers. His early education was completed in

Banda, Uttar Pradesh Banda is a city and a municipal board in Banda district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. Banda is divided between north, east, west and south Banda. Banda lies south of the Yamuna river in the Bundelkhand region. It is the administrative ...

, thereafter he did his BA and MA (English) from

Allahabad University , mottoeng = "As Many Branches So Many Trees" , established = , type = Public , chancellor = Ashish Chauhan , vice_chancellor = Sangita Srivastava , head_label ...

which in those days was known to be the "Oxford of the East". He taught for two years, graduate classes and in 1962 joined the

from which he retired in 1997 as Chairman, Central Board of Direct Taxes. Thereafter he shifted to Bhopal. Vyas Samman was awarded in 1998, to his work "Paanch Anangano Wala Ghar" which was later translated into various Indian languages and also in English as "House with Five Courtyards", published by Penguin. Sahitya Akademi Award, given by

Sahitya Akademi The Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, is an organisation dedicated to the promotion of literature in the languages of India. Founded on 12 March 1954, it is supported by, though independent of, the Indian government. Its of ...

, India's National Academy of Letters, was awarded in 2008 on "Kohre Mein Kaid Rang" which is also being translated in various regional languages and English by Sahitya Akademi, Ravindra Bhavan, New Delhi. His main publishers are

Rajkamal Prakashan Rajkamal Prakashan is a noted publishing house of Hindi literature as well as English book publication. Established in 1947, the publishing house is headquartered in New Delhi, with branches in Patna, Ranchi, Prayagraj, Kolkata and some other loc ...

, Vani Prakashan and Kitab Ghar in Delhi. A book comprising criticism of his works entitled "Govind Mishra: Shrajan ke Aayam" edited by Dr. Chandrakant Vandivadekar has been published by Vani Prakashan. Another book of criticism on his works entitled "Govind Mishra ka Rachna Lok" is being edited by Dr. Krishnadutt Paliwal and is due to be published by Kitab Ghar. A biography on him entitled "Biyanba Mein Bahar" written by Dr. Urmila Sirish is due for publication from Kitab Ghar Prakashan Delhi. Govind Mishra was also awarded the Bharat Bharti Samman for the year 2011 - the highest literary award given by the Uttar Pradesh government.
http://www.dnaindia.com/india/1814478/report-uttar-pradesh-s-bharat-bharti-samman-presented-after-three-years

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mishra, Govind 1939 births Living people Hindi-language writers People from Banda district, India Indian male novelists Indian male short story writers Recipients of the Saraswati Samman Award Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Hindi Indian Revenue Service officers University of Allahabad alumni 20th-century Indian short story writers 20th-century Indian novelists Novelists from Uttar Pradesh 20th-century Indian male writers