Balai Chand Mukhopadhyay
Mukhopadhyay on a 1999 Indian stamp
Born(1899-07-19)19 July 1899
Manihari, Purnia District, Bengal Presidency, British India
Died9 February 1979(1979-02-09) (aged 79)
Calcutta, West Bengal, India
NationalityIndian
Other namesBanaphul
Alma materCalcutta Medical College
Patna Medical College and Hospital

Balai Chand Mukhopadhyay (19 July 1899 – 9 February 1979) was an Indian Bengali-language novelist, short story writer, playwright, poet, and physician who wrote under the pen name of Banaphul (meaning "the wild flower" in Bengali). He was a recipient of the civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan (1975).[1]

Life

Mukhopadhyay was born in Manihari village of Purnia district (now Katihar District), Bihar on 19 July 1899. His family originally hailed from Sehakhala situated in Hooghly District of present-day West Bengal.[2] His father, Satyacharan Mukhopadhyay, was a doctor, and his mother was Mrinalini Devi. He originally took the pen name Banaphul ("the wild flower") to hide his literary activities from a disapproving teacher. He attended Hazaribag College and was later admitted in the Calcutta Medical College. But he graduated from Patna Medical College and Hospital, later he practised at Azimganj Hospital and worked as a pathologist at Bhagalpur. He moved to Lake Town, Calcutta, in 1968, and died there on 9 February 1979.[3] He is the elder brother of famous Bengali film Director Arabinda Mukhopadhyay.

Literary works

He is most noted for his short vignettes, often just half-page long, but his body of work spanned sixty-five years and included "thousands of poems, 586 short stories (a handful of which have been translated to English),[4] 60 novels, 5 dramas, a number of one-act plays, an autobiography called Paschatpat (Background), and numerous essays."[5][6]

Novels[edit]

Short stories[edit]

Film adaptation of his literature[edit]

Postage stamp

On the 100th anniversary of his birth, the Government of India issued a postage stamp featuring his image.[7]

See also

Further reading

References

  1. ^ "Padma Awards" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 October 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  2. ^ BANAPHOOL RACHANABALI (VOL.16), MUKHOPADHYAY, BALAICHAND, Granthagar Pvt. Ltd. , Calcutta, 1955, p. 3
  3. ^ "Banaful ( of একশ বছরের সেরা গল্প)". Goodreads. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
  4. ^ "Wildfire and Other Stories by Banaphool". Purple Pencil Project. 13 June 2020. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  5. ^ Spectrum of Bengali literature (modern period), Indiaheritage.org, Retrieved 1 May 2007.
  6. ^ Ananta Ghosh, Great writers Archived 2 June 2021 at the Wayback Machine, Bengali Association of Greater Chicago Newsletter, Volume 25: Issue 2 : April 2000. Retrieved 1 May 2007.
  7. ^ India, 1999 Archived 29 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine. Postbeeld.com, Retrieved 1 May 2007.

External links

Padma Bhushan award recipients (1970–1979)
National Film Award for Best Story
Authority control databases
Categories