Tarasankar Bandyopadhyay - Biography

Biography

Bandyopadhyay was born at his ancestral home at Labhpur village in Birbhum district, Bengal Province, British India (now Paschimbanga, India) to Haridas Bandyopadhyay and Prabhabati Devi. He passed the Matriculation examination from Labhpur Jadablal H. E. School in 1916 and later admitted first to St. Xavier's College, Calcutta and then to South Suburban College (now Asutosh College). While studying in intermediate at St. Xavier's College, he joined the non-cooperation movement. He could not complete his university course due to ill-health and political activism.

He was arrested in 1930 for actively supporting the Indian independence movement, but released later that year. After that he decided to devote himself to literature. In 1932, he met Rabindranath Tagore at Santiniketan for the first time. His first novel Chaitali Ghurni was published on the same year.

In 1940, he rented a house at Bagbazar and brought his family to Calcutta. In 1941, he moved to Baranagar. In 1942 he presided over the Birbhum District Literature Conference and became the president of the Anti-Fascist Writers and Artists Association in Bengal. In 1944, he presided over the Kanpur Bengali Literature Conference arranged by the non-resident Bengalis living there. In 1947, he inaugurated Prabasi Banga Sahitya Sammelan held in Calcutta; presided over the Silver Jubilee Prabasi Banga Sahitya Sammelan in Bombay; and received Sarat Memorial Medal from the University of Calcutta. In 1948, he moved to his own house at Tala Park, Calcutta.

In 1952, he was nominated a member of the legislative assembly. In 1954, he took Diksha from his mother. In 1955, he was awarded the Rabindra Puraskar by the Government of West Bengal. In 1956, he received the Sahitya Akademi Award. In 1957, he visited China at an invitation from the Chinese Government. In the next year he visited Soviet Union to join the preparatory committee of Afro-Asian Writers' Association and later went to Tashkent as the leader of the Indian Writers delegation at the Afro-Asian Writers' Association.

In 1959, he received the Jagattarini Gold Medal from the University of Calcutta; and presided over All India Writer’s Conference in Madras. In 1960, he retired from West Bengal Legislative Assembly but nominated to the Parliament by the President of India. In 1962, he received Padma Shri; but the death of his son-in-law broke his heart and to keep himself diverted he took to painting and making wooden toys. In 1963, he received Sisirkumar Award. In 1966, he retired from the Parliament and presided over Nagpur Bengali Literature Conference. In 1967, he won the Jnanpith Award and in 1968, he received Padma Bhushan and honoured with the title of Doctor of Literature by the University of Calcutta and the Jadavpur University. In 1969, he was given the fellowship of Sahitya Akademi; and became the president of Vangiya Sahitya Parishad. In 1971, he gave the Nripendrachandra Memorial Lecture at Visva-Bharati University and D. L. Roy Memorial Lecture at the University of Calcutta.

Bandyopadhyay died at his Calcutta residence on September 14, 1971 early in the morning. His last rites were performed at the Nimtala Cremation Ground, North Calcutta.