| Birendra Kumar Bhattacharya | |
| Birth Date: | 1924 10, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | Assam, India |
| Death Place: | Guwahati, Assam, India |
| Language: | Assamese |
| Nationality: | Indian |
| Notableworks: | Mrityunjay Iyaruingam Aai |
| Spouse: | Binita Bhattacharya |
| Children: | 3 |
| Awards: | Jnanpith Award (1979) |
Birendra Kumar Bhattacharya (14 October 1924 – 6 August 1997) was an Indian writer. He was one of the pioneers of modern Assamese literature. He was the first ever Assamese writer to receive the Jnanpith Award, which was awarded to him in the year 1979 for his novel Mrityunjay (Immortal),[1] followed by Indira Goswami in 2001.[2] He was also a recipient of Sahitya Akademi Award in Assamese in 1961 for his Assamese novel Iyaruingam, which is considered a masterpiece of Indian literature.[3] In 2005, a translation of the work published by Katha Books with the title Love in the Time of Insurgency was released.[4] Another famous novel written by Bhattacharya is Aai (Mother).
He was the President of Asam Sahitya Sabha (Assam Literary Society) during 1983-1985.[5] In 1997, Bhattacharyya died due to a brief illness at the private college hospital in Guwahati.[6]
Bhattacharya was a respected figure in the Assamese modern literary sphere for his role in discovering, nurturing and promoting young literary talent in Assam from 1960s as the editor of the Assamese literary journal Ramdhenu. His role as the editor of this journal was so prominent that the period of its publication in the mid-20th century in Assam is referred as Ramdhenu Era of Assamese literature and considered as a golden era.
His major discoveries of Ramdhenu Era are deemed to be the top Assamese and Indian litterateurs of the second half of the 20th century. His most prominent literary discoveries during the Ramdhenu Era who left undeniable mark in different domains of Assamese literature during the next half century are Lakshmi Nandan Bora, Bhabendra Nath Saikia, Saurav Kumar Chaliha, Navakanta Barua, Bhabananda Deka, Nirmal Prabha Bordoloi, Padma Barkataki, Homen Borgohain, Hiren Bhattacharya, Chandraprasad Saikia, Nilmoni Phukan Sr, Hiren Gohain, Mamoni Raisom Goswami and several others. Even after Ramdhenu stopped publication, he remained active as the leading Indian literary critic, and continued his mission of discovering extraordinary literary talent in Assam.
He used to write literary criticism and reviews of much younger authors till the mid-1980s, if he found unparalleled literary works having bright promise to emerge as influential writers in the next few decades. His penultimate literary discovery was a school student named Arnab Jan Deka, about whose first published book Ephanki Rhode('A Stanza of Sunlight'), published during his school-student days as 10th standard matriculate in 1983, Dr Bhattacharya wrote his swan-song critical literary article, which was published in a literary journal Gandhaar in 1987.[7] Through such magnanimity and impartial literary credentials, Dr Bhattacharya became part of legend and folklore in the domain of Indian literature during his lifetime. His gift of discovering extraordinary literary talents and further acts of selfless promotion of such genuine such writers made his a part of legend and folklore during his lifetime.