Mohit Chattopadhyay - Early Life

Early Life

Mohit Chattopadhyaya was born in the town of Barisal, now in Bangladesh. He left Bangladesh and immigrated to Calcutta (Kolkata) with his family at the age of thirteen. An avid reader, he started writing as a young boy. In Kolkata, he was a frequent visitor of Chaitanya Library, near his home at Bidon Street. In the library he stumbled upon Six Characters in Search of an Author by Luigi Pirandello, his first contact with an absurd play. He finished his Matriculation examination in 1950 and joined City College, Kolkata. While studying in City College he became close to culturally like-minded people, who became prominent poets, authors, artists in their later lives. He became close friend with Sunil Gongopadhyay, Shibshmbhu Pal, Soumitra Chatterjee, Sandeepan Chatterjee, Shakti Chattopadhay. He earned his Masters in Bengali Literature as a private candidate from University Of Calcutta. His career in academia began as a lecturer at Jangipur College, Murshidabad and later as a Reader of Bengali Literature at City College.