Sajanikanta Das (25 August 1900 – 11 February 1962) was a Bengali poet, literary critic and editor of

Shanibarer Chithi ''Shanibarer Chithi'' (meaning ''the Saturday Letter'' in English) was a monthly Bengali literary magazine published by Shaniranjan Press in Kolkata, India. It was founded in 1929 by Ashok Chattopadhyay as the conservative response to the progres ...

Early life

Sajanikanta was born at Betalban village,

Bardhaman district Bardhaman district (, ; also spelled Burdwan or Barddhaman or Vardhaman) was a district in West Bengal. On 7 April 2017, the district was bifurcated into two districts: Purba Bardhaman and Paschim Bardhaman district. The headquarters of the dis ...

. He passed the entrance examination from Dinajpur Jila School of

Dinajpur Dinajpur ( bn, দিনাজপুর ) is a city and the District headquarters of Dinajpur district situated in Rangpur Division, Bangladesh. It was founded in 1786. It is located 413 km north-west of Dhaka in Bangladesh. It is bound ...

and entered into the

Presidency College Calcutta Presidency University, Kolkata (formerly known as Presidency College, Kolkata) is a second major public state aided research university located in College Street, Kolkata. Considered as one of best colleges when Presidency College was affili ...

in 1918. Das did not complete his study there due to political causes and joined in

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 ...

Weslian Missionary College. Thereafter he passed B.Sc from

Scottish Church College Scottish Church College is a college affiliated by Calcutta University, India. It offers selective co-educational undergraduate and postgraduate studies and is the oldest continuously running Christian liberal arts and sciences college in A ...

Literary career

Das joined in the esteemed Bengali magazine Shanibarer Chithi while he was studying M.Sc and took the pen name ''Bhabkumar Pradhan''. He became the chief editor of the magazine from the 11th issue and got popularity for satire based criticism. His prose, satirical attack hit eminent personalities of Bengal. He was also attached with ''

Prabasi ''Prabasi'' ( bn, প্রবাসী) was a monthly Bengali language literary magazine edited by Ramananda Chatterjee. History and profile ''Prabasi'' was founded by Ramananda Chatterjee in 1901 and ran for over 60 years. It published many i ...

'', ''

Dainik Basumati ''Dainik Basumati'' was a Bengali daily published from Kolkata by the Basumati Corporation Limited. It was first published on 6 August 1914 and stopped its publication in 2003. History In 1881, Upendranath Mukhopadhyay started the Basumati Sah ...

'' and ''Bangashree'' magazines. Das researched and published articles on ancient

Bengali literature Bengali literature ( bn, বাংলা সাহিত্য, Bangla Sahityô) denotes the body of writings in the Bengali language and which covers Old Bengali, Middle- Bengali and Modern Bengali with the changes through the passage of time ...

, socio-political issues of

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

. He was a well known intellectual for his time as a constructive critic, lyricist, script writer and play writer. Das was the president of

Bangiya Sahitya Parishad Bangiya Sahitya Parishat is a literary society in Maniktala of Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Established during the time of the British Raj, its goal is to promote Bengali literature, both by translating works in other languages to Bengali and ...

for ten years consecutively. He established Shaniranjan Press and Ranjan Publishing House in

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

Work

The books of Sajanikanta Das namely: * ''Monodarpan'' * ''Path Chalte Ghaser Ful'' * ''Ajoy'' * ''Bhab O Chando'' * ''Bangla Sahityer Itihas'' * ''Bango Rangabhum'' * ''Panchise Baishakh'' * ''Madhu O Ful'' * ''Angushtho'' * ''Wilium Carrie'' * ''Rabindranath : Jibon O Sahitya''

References

{{Authority control 1900 births 1962 deaths Bengali-language literature 20th-century Bengali poets Bengali writers Indian literary critics Indian magazine editors Writers from Kolkata 20th-century Indian poets Scottish Church College alumni University of Calcutta alumni