Dr. Radhanath Rath (6 December 1896 – 11 February 1998) was a newspaper editor, freedom fighter, social worker and politician from Odisha. He was the editor of ''

The Samaja ''The Samaja'' is an Odia language, Odia daily newspaper published in Cuttack, Odisha, Odisha, India; started in 1919, it is one of the oldest papers in India. Gopabandhu Das, a prominent freedom fighter and social worker started it as a weekly f ...

'', one of the leading newspapers of Odisha.

Early life

He was born on 6 December 1896, in a village named "Radhanathpur Shashan" of Aathgarh. He started his education in the Jubilee School of Balasore where his uncle Lokanath Mohapatra was the Sanskrit teacher. He was matriculated in 1916 from

Ravenshaw Collegiate School Ravenshaw Collegiate School is the oldest High School of Odisha which was established in 1851 by Thomas Edward Ravenshaw in the District of Cuttack in Odisha, India. It was one of three institutions founded by Ravenshaw, the other two being th ...

Cuttack Cuttack (, or officially Kataka in Odia language, Odia ), is the former capital, deputy capital and the 2nd largest city of the Indian state of Odisha. It is also the headquarters of the Cuttack district. The name of the city is an anglicised f ...

. He joined the forest department of Singhbhum district as a Clerk. He left the job in 1919 and joined the 'Satyabadi press' of

Gopabandhu Das Gopabandhu Das (1877–1928), popularly known as '' Pandit Utkalamani Gopabandhu Das'' (''Jewel of Utkal'' or Odisha), was a social worker, reformer, political activist, journalist, poet and essayist. Early life Gopabandhu Das was born on 9 ...

. He started his career in Journalism as Manager and Assistant Editor of the Oriya weekly "

" which was started under the editorial of Gopabandhu Das. After the death of Gopabandhu Das in the year 1928, Pandit Lingaraj Mishra worked as the editor of the "Samaj". In the year 1930, the daily publication of Samaj was initiated. During 1946–1952 Lingaraj Mishra worked as the education minister of Odisha. So Radhanath Rath became the Editor of the "Samaj". He joined the Quit India Movement in 1942 and was imprisoned for two years.

Political activities

He was elected 5 times to the

Odisha Legislative Assembly The Odisha Legislative Assembly is the unicameral state legislature of Odisha state in India. The seat of the Legislative Assembly is at Bhubaneswar, the capital of the state. The Legislative Assembly comprises List of constituencies of Odisha ...

. In 1946, he was first elected to the state assembly from Athagarh. He appointed cabinet Minister in charge of Finance, Education, Forestry and Agriculture from 1952 to 1961. Radhanath Rath became the Finance and Education Minister in the

Nabakrushna Choudhury Nabakrushna Choudhury (also spelled Nabakrushna Choudhuri; 23 November 1901 – 24 June 1984) was an Indian politician and activist. He served as Chief Minister of the Indian state of Odisha. He was a freedom fighter who participated in the N ...

Cabinet for the period 1952 to 1959. In the year 1959 he held the post of minister of development & forest department under the

Harekrushna Mahatab Harekrushna Mahatab (born Harekrushna Das, 21 November 1899 – 2 January 1987) was the leader of the Indian National Congress, a notable figure in the Indian independence movement and the Chief Minister of Odisha from 1946 to 1950 and from 1956 ...

's Cabinet. Except for between 1961 and 1967, he remained a member of the house from 1946 to 1977.

Social work

He was a lifetime member and President of the Odisha branch of the '

Servants of the People Society Servants of the People Society (SOPS) (Hindi (ISO) : Lōka Sēvaka Maṇḍala ) is a non-profit social service organization founded by Lala Lajpat Rai, a prominent leader in the Indian Independence movement, in 1921 in Lahore. The society is d ...

' set up by

Lala Lajpat Rai Lala Lajpat Rai (28 January 1865 — 17 November 1928) was an Indian revolutionary, politician, and author, popularly known as ''Punjab Kesari (Lion of Punjab).'' He was one of the three members of the Lal Bal Pal trio. He died of severe tra ...

of Punjab. He was president of the Society for over a decade from May 1981. He was the head of the All Indian Scout and Guides Association, Odisha. He was also related to many other organisations like the Hind leprosy eradication group, the Gopabandhu Daridra Narayan Seva Sangha. He was also the Deputy Din of the Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology. He has written many poems, stories and biographies. "Mo Jel Smruti Lipi" is one of his famous works. He died on 11 February 1998 at Cuttack, and was buried with full state honours at Satyabadi near

Puri Puri, also known as Jagannath Puri, () is a coastal city and a Nagar Palika, municipality in the state of Odisha in eastern India. It is the district headquarters of Puri district and is situated on the Bay of Bengal, south of the state ca ...

Awards

* Orissa Sahitya Academy Award, 1991 *

Padma Bhusan The Padma Bhushan (IAST: ''Padma Bhūṣaṇa'', lit. 'Lotus Decoration') is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January ...

, 1968 * Critic Circle of India award, 1987 * All India Anubrata award in 1988 * Utkal Ratna Samman (1993, Utkal Sahitya Samaj) *Degree of Doctor of Laws (LL.D) (by the

Berhampur University Berhampur University is a public teaching-cum-affiliating university in Brahmapur, Odisha, India. History Berhampur University was established on 2 January 1967 as an affiliating University by the Odisha Act 21 of 1966. Lingaraj Law College ...

), 1976.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rath, Radhanath 1896 births 1998 deaths Indian men centenarians People from Cuttack district Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in literature & education Recipients of the Odisha Sahitya Akademi Award Prisoners and detainees of British India State cabinet ministers of Odisha Odisha MLAs 1946–1952 Odisha MLAs 1952–1957 Odisha MLAs 1957–1961 Odisha MLAs 1971–1973 Odisha MLAs 1974–1977 Odia-language writers Writers from Odisha 20th-century Indian male writers Recipients of the Utkal Ratna Samman