Ramanlal Pitambardas Soni (25 January 1908 – 20 September 2006), also known by his pen name Sudamo, was a children's writer, translator, and social worker from

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

, India. He authored primarily in

Gujarati language Gujarati (; gu, ગુજરાતી, Gujarātī, translit-std=ISO, label=Gujarati script, ) is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Indian state of Gujarat and spoken predominantly by the Gujarati people. Gujarati is descended from Old Gu ...

Biography

He was born on 25 January 1908 in Kokapur near

Modasa Modasa is a town and a municipality in Aravalli district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Modasa was named after the Bhil chieftain Malaji Bhil, who ruled in Modasa during 1466. Modasa became headquarters of new Aravalli district, carved out ...

in north Gujarat. He completed his school education in Modasa. In 1940, he completed a BA from

Agra University Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar University, formerly Agra University, is an Autonomous University located in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. The university is named after B. R. Ambedkar, Bhimrao Ambedkar, Indian scholar, social reformer, and the architect of t ...

. He came back to Modasa and joined Modasa high school as a principal. He left a job in 1945 to be involved in social work. He went to

Yerwada Central Jail Yerwada Central Jail is a noted high-security prison in Yerwada, Pune in Maharashtra. This is the largest prison in the state of Maharashtra, and also one of the largest prisons in South Asia, housing over 5,000 prisoners (2017) spread over var ...

during

satyagraha Satyagraha ( sa, सत्याग्रह; ''satya'': "truth", ''āgraha'': "insistence" or "holding firmly to"), or "holding firmly to truth",' or "truth force", is a particular form of nonviolent resistance or civil resistance. Someone w ...

movement in 1932 where he learned

Bengali language Bengali ( ), generally known by its endonym Bangla (, ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language native to the Bengal region of South Asia. It is the official, national, and most widely spoken language of Bangladesh and the second m ...

. Later, he served as a member of the legislative assembly of

Bombay state Bombay State was a large Indian state created at the time of India's Independence, with other regions being added to it in the succeeding years. Bombay Presidency (roughly equating to the present-day Indian state of Maharashtra, excluding Sou ...

from 1952 to 1957. He was married to Rasikbala Soni and had three children. Dr Shriram, Jayram and Pratima. Doctor by profession, his eldest son Shriram is married to anesthesiologist and renowned

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub- ...

Odiya 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 ...

translator Dr Renuka Soni. He died on 20 September 2006 at

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ; Gujarati: Amdavad ) is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 (per t ...

Works

He wrote original as well as translated and adapted children's literature. He wrote stories, poems, rhymes, plays, and biographies for them. Many of his stories and poems were published in the Zagmag column of

Gujarat Samachar ''Gujarat Samachar'' is a Gujarati-language daily newspaper published in India. Its headquarters are in Ahmedabad with a branch in Surat. It is distributed from Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Rajkot, Bhavnagar, Mumbai, Mehsana, Bhuj and New Y ...

in the 1990s. His autobiography titled ''Rakh nu Pankhi'' was published in 1999. He translated Bengali literature into Gujarati. Some notable works include ''Gora'', '' Chokher Bali'', ''

Rajarshi Rajarishi () is a title in Hinduism and Hindu mythology, referring to a sage who hails from a royal background. Description A rajarishi may be described to be a king (raja) who adopted a path of devotion, thereby becoming a royal sage (rishi). A ...

'' 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 ...

; '' Shrikant'' by

Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, alternatively spelt as Sarat Chandra Chatterjee ( bn, শরৎচন্দ্র চট্টোপাধ্যায়; 15 September 1876 or ৩১ শে ভাদ্র ১২৮৩ বঙ্গাব্দ � ...

. He also translated works of

Tarashankar Bandopadhyay Tarasankar Bandyopadhyay (23 July 1898 – 14 September 1971) was an Indian novelist who wrote in the Bengali language. He wrote 65 novels, 53-story-books, 12 plays, 4 essay-books, 4 autobiographies, 2 travel stories and composed several songs. ...

and

Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar CIE ( bn, ঈশ্বর চন্দ্র বিদ্যাসাগর; 26 September 1820 – 29 July 1891), born Ishwar Chandra Bandyopadhyay, was an Indian educator and social reformer of the nineteenth century. ...

Awards

He was awarded

Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak, also known as the Ranjitram Gold Medal, was founded by Gujarat Sahitya Sabha and is considered the highest literary award in Gujarati literature. The award is named after renowned Gujarati writer Ranjitram Mehta. It is ...

, the highest literary award in the Gujarati language, in 1996. He also received Gujarat Gaurav Puraskar by the

Government of Gujarat The Government of Gujarat, also known as Gujarat Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Gujarat and its 33 districts. It consists of an executive of the legislators appointed by the Governor of Gujarat, a judiciary ...

in 1999.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soni, Ramanlal 1908 births 2006 deaths Gujarati-language writers Gujarat politicians People from Sabarkantha district Recipients of the Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak Bombay State MLAs 1952–1957 Indian translators Indian children's writers Indian autobiographers Translators to Gujarati 20th-century translators Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Prize for Translation

Biography

Works

Awards

See also

References