Prabhat Kumar Mukhopadhyaya (27 July 1892–7 November 1985) was a Bengali writer best known for his biography of

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 ...

Early life

He started his early life at

Giridih Giridih is headquarters of the Giridih district of Jharkhand state, India. The city of Giridih is known for its industrial and health sectors, as well as its scenic beauty. Giridih houses the Giridih Coalfield which is one of the oldest coalfie ...

, now in Jharkhand, where his father Nagendranath Mukhopadhyaya was a lawyer. In 1907, he was turned out of his school for participating in Banga Bhanga movement (

Swadeshi movement The Swadeshi movement was a self-sufficiency movement that was part of the Indian independence movement and contributed to the development of Indian nationalism. Before the BML Government's decision for the partition of Bengal was made public in ...

). In 1908, he stood fifth in the entrance examination of the National Council of Education.Sengupta, Subodh Chandra and Bose, Anjali (editors), 1976/1998, ''Sansad Bangali Charitabhidhan'' (Biographical dictionary) Vol I, , p304,

At Santiniketan

He joined National Council of Education college at Bowbazar in Kolkata. There he had inspiring teachers like Benay Kumar Sarkar and Radhakumud Mukherjee, but he could not continue his studies because of ill health and death of his father. After coming in contact with Rabindranath Tagore, he arrived at

Santiniketan Santiniketan is a neighbourhood of Bolpur town in the Bolpur subdivision of Birbhum district in West Bengal, India, approximately 152 km north of Kolkata. It was established by Maharshi Devendranath Tagore, and later expanded by his son ...

in 1909, where had some informal education and joined as a school teacher in 1910. He was librarian of the City College at Kolkata during 1916–18. He returned to Santiniketan as a librarian and school teacher in 1918. In 1926, he was appointed as a professor in the college section.

Works

Rabindra Parichay Sabha, which he had founded, assigned him the task of writing the biography of the poet. It took around a quarter of a century to complete the project. The first volume, published in 1933, was the only one the poet himself could see. The four-volume ''Rabindra Jivani'' laid the foundation for further research on Rabindranath. His other books on the poet were: ''Rabindra Grantha Panji'' (1932), ''Rabindra Jiban Katha'', ''Rabi Katha'', ''Rabindranather Chenasuna Manush'', ''Santiniketan Visva Bharati'', ''Rabindranather Gaan – Kalanukromik Suchi'' etc. Mukhopadhyaya was a profound scholar and writer. He wrote ''Prachin Itihaser Galpo'' (1912), ''Bharat Parichay'' (1921), ''Bharatey Jatio Andolan'' (1925) and ''Banga Parichay'' in two volumes (1936 & 1941). He wrote ''Gyanbharati'', a short encyclopedia for children. When the noted orientalist

Sylvain Lévi Sylvain Lévi (March 28, 1863 – October 30, 1935) was an influential French orientalist and indologist who taught Sanskrit and Indian religion at the École pratique des hautes études. Lévi's book ''Théâtre Indien'' is an important ...

came to Santiniketan, he learnt Chinese and Tibetan from him and engaged in research in that area.

Honours

In 1965, he was honoured with Deshikottama. Other universities conferred the honorary D.Lit. degree on him. He was honoured with a Padma Bhusan in 1981.

Personal life

He married Sudhamoyee, daughter of the

Brahmo Bengali Brahmos are those who adhere to Brahmoism, the philosophy of Brahmo Samaj which was founded by Raja Rammohan Roy. A recent publication describes the disproportionate influence of Brahmos on India's development post-19th Century as unpa ...

theologian Sitanath Tattwabhushan. One of the earlier period students of Santiniketan, she was founder of the Bolpur Balika Vidyalaya and was its headmistress for many years. Mukhopadhyaya spent his retired life in his own house at Bhubandanga in Bolpur. He died on 8 November 1985.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mukhopadhyaya, Prabhat Kumar People associated with Santiniketan 20th-century Indian biographers Bengali-language writers 1892 births 1985 deaths Scholars from West Bengal