Nurul Momen (25 November 1908 – 16 February 1990) was a Bangladeshi playwright, educator, director, broadcast personality, academician, satirist, essayist, translator and poet.
[Bangla Natyashahitter Itihash, the most authoritative reference book on Bengali theater] He served as a faculty member in the capacities of professor and dean at the faculty of Law in 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 ...
. He also served as a lawyer. He is called "Father of Bangladeshi theatre" and "Natyaguru" (or Natyo Guru or Natto Guru) of Bangladesh (''The Grand Teacher of Drama and Theatre'').
He was awarded the
Bangla Academy Award
The Bangla Academy Literary Award ( bn, বাংলা একাডেমি সাহিত্য পুরস্কার; ''Bangla Academy Shahitya Puroshkar''), is given by the Bangla Academy of Bangladesh in recognition of creative genius i ...
in 1961, merely a year after its inception. He was also honoured by the
People's Republic of Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million pe ...
with the
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 ...
in 1978, only a couple of years after this State honor was introduced.
Early life and education
Momen was born on 25 November 1908. His father was Nurul Arefin, a physician and Zamindar (landlord) in Alfadanga, of the then
Jessore
Jessore ( bn, যশোর, jôshor, ), officially Jashore, is a city of Jessore District situated in Khulna Division. It is situated in the south-western part of Bangladesh. It is the administrative centre (headquarter) of the eponymous district ...
district. (After the partition of India, from 1947, Alphadanga is in
Faridpur district
Faridpur District ( bn, ফরিদপুর জেলা) is a district in south-central Bangladesh. It is a part of the Dhaka Division. It is bounded by the Padma River to its northeast. The district was named after Farīd-ud-Dīn Masʿūd, ...
.) He went to primary school in
Calcutta
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
and was admitted in 1916 into Khulna Zila School. At the age of ten he wrote his first poem, ''Shondhya'' (Evening), in the same verse as
Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resha ...
's ''Shonar Tory''. In 1919 it was published in the journal ''Dhrubotara''. In 1920, he was enrolled in the
Dhaka High School where he resided in the Dafrin Hostel. After matriculation in 1924 he studied at
Dhaka Intermediate College. Passing intermediate, he enrolled for a
BA at the newly established
Dhaka University
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 ...
in 1926.
While he was residing at "Muslim Hall" of Dhaka University, the various halls staged the then new play ''
Muktadhara'' by
Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...
. After some initial resistance, Momen received the main role of "Botu". This ignited his passion for drama and even earned him the first prize, but it was also the first time that he performed as actor himself.
After receiving his B.A. from Dhaka University in 1929, he studied law at the
Department of Law, University of Calcutta
The Department of Law, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, West Bengal, formerly University College of Law, is a faculty in the University of Calcutta, founded in 1909, colloquially referred to as Hazra Law College, which offers undergraduate, pos ...
. Upon completing his
B.L. examinations in 1936 he started practicing at the
Calcutta High Court
The Calcutta High Court is the oldest High Court in India. It is located in B.B.D. Bagh, Kolkata, West Bengal. It has jurisdiction over the state of West Bengal and the Union Territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The High Court buildi ...
.
Career
Radio work
After the foundation of
All India Radio
All or ALL may refer to:
Language
* All, an indefinite pronoun in English
* All, one of the English determiners
* Allar language (ISO 639-3 code)
* Allative case (abbreviated ALL)
Music
* All (band), an American punk rock band
* ''All'' (All a ...
in Dhaka, 1939, Momen picked up on the opportunity of the new medium and became its first Muslim author. In 1941 he wrote and directed the comedy ''Rupantor'' (Transformation) for the radio. With its progressive plot and a female main character it differed vastly form traditional Muslim plays and was actually the first modern drama of Bangladesh. Upon initiative of the critic, the poet and literary critic
Mohitlal Majumder, the play was also published in the yearly
Puja issue of the newspaper
Anandabazar
'' Anandabazar Patrika'' (Bengali: আনন্দবাজার পত্রিকা, ) is an Indian Bengali-language daily newspaper owned by the ABP Group. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, it has a circulation of 1 million co ...
.
While he was in London for higher studies from 1948 on, Nurul Momen and his friend Nazir Ahmed started a
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
Bengali program, a weekly one-hour format called'' Anjuman'' where Momen was responsible for the literary content.
, Momen joined the faculty of Law at the Dhaka University in 1945.
There he was known for including elements from literature and music into the law classes.
was one of his favourite students, who enrolled in that department in 1948. He encouraged
to get interested in theater and become a playwright. Momen encouraged him to read
and got many other students interested in theatre. He later translated ''
''. From 1948 until 1951 Momen was on leave from the university, undergoing higher studies in England and graduating in Law from London University.
In 1936 Momen married Amena Momen, née Khatun (died 1993). They had four children – Momena Momen Saara (died 1995), Ahmad Nurul Momen (died 2009), Hammad Nurul Momen and Faisal Mahmud Tukun Nurul Momen.
On 25 November 2008, his birth centenary was celebrated at the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA).
His 102nd birthday was celebrated in November 2010 with a week-long festival, organized again by the BSA together with the Aurony Mohona International Foundation (AMIF).
A TV program on Natyaguru Nurul Momen https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ki69H8j9hoI