Subodh Chandra Sengupta (27 June 1903 – 3 December 1998) was an Indian scholar, academic and critic of English literature, known for his scholarship on

Shakespearean William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

works. His books on

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

, which included ''Aspects of Shakespearian Tragedy'', ''Shakespearian Comedy'' and ''Shakespeare's Historical Plays'' are critically acclaimed for scholarship and academic rigor. He was a professor in the Department of English Language and Literature at Presidency College (now Presidency University), Calcutta, and after retirement from Presidency College, became Professor of English Language and Literature at Jadavpur University, Calcutta, as well as a professor of English literature at

Ramakrishna Mission Residential College Ramakrishna Mission Residential College (Autonomous), Narendrapur is an institute for pursuing undergraduate and postgraduate studies in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is an autonomous college located in Narendrapur, Kolkata. The college ...

, Narendrapur, an autonomous college in Greater Calcutta under the University of Calcutta. The Government of India awarded him the third highest civilian honour of the

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan 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 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

, in 1983, for his contributions to literature and education.

Biography

Subodh Chandra Sengupta was born in 1903 in

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city i ...

, in the Bengal Province of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

(present-day

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

) and did his college studies at

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 ...

during 1924-26 where he had the opportunity to learn under such academics as

Harendra Coomar Mookerjee Harendra Coomar Mookherjee (3 October 1887 – 7 August 1956), also spelt as H.C. Mukherjee, was the Vice-President of the Constituent Assembly of India for drafting the Constitution of India before Partition of India, and the third Governor o ...

Prafulla Chandra Ghosh Prafulla Chandra Ghosh (24 December 1891 – 18 December 1983) was the first Premier of West Bengal, India from 15 August 1947 to 14 August 1948. He also served as the Chief Minister of West Bengal in the "Progressive Democratic Alliance Fro ...

and Srikumar Banerjee. After securing his MA in 1927, he continued his doctoral studies with ''Premchand Roychand scholarship'' during which time he started his career as a faculty member at the

. He served the institution from 1929 till 1960, barring two interludes from 1933 to 1935 and from 1942 to 1946. In between, he secured his PhD in 1934 and also taught at

for a while. Sengupta published five books on Shakespeare, ''The whirlgig of Time: The problem of Duration in Shakespeare's Plays'' (1961), ''A Shakespeare Manual'' (1977), ''Aspects of Shakespearian Tragedy'' (1972), ''Shakespearean Comedy (1950)'', and ''Shakespeare's Historical Plays'' (1964), which are known to be reference texts on the English playwright. He also wrote on other literary figures such as

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...

(''The Art of Bernard Shaw''),

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 ...

(''The Great Sentinel: A Study of Rabindranath Tagore'' ), Saratchandra Chatterjee (''Saratchandra: Man and Artist'') and Bankimchandra Chatterjee (''Bankimchandra Chatterjee''). His other major works included two original books, ''Towards a Theory of Imagination'', a philosophical treatise, ''India Wrests Freedom'', a historical interpretation of

Indian freedom movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged from Bengal. ...

, and two translations, ''Dhvanyaloka'', a commentary on aesthetics by Anandavardhana translated into Bengali by Sengupta, and ''Mahatma Gandhi, As I Saw Him'', a critical account of the life of

Mohandas KaramChand Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

written by

and translated by Sengupta. He also assisted in the publication of a dictionary, ''Samsad Bengali-English Dictionary'' and edited the annual publications of Presidency College Alumni Association. Sengupta, who was honored by the Government of India with the civilian award of the

in 1983, died in 1998, at the age of 95. Several writers have recorded their indebtedness to Sengupta in their works. The story of his life has been documented in a work, ''Professor Subodh Chandra Sen Gupta: Scholar Extraordinary'', published by the foundation bearing his name.

Selected bibliography

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Biography

Selected bibliography

See also

References

External links

Further reading