| Cha. Fra. D'Costa | |
| Birth Date: | 10 October 1931 |
| Birth Place: | Marnamikatta, Mangalore, India |
| Death Date: | 1992 (aged 61) |
| Language: | Konkani |
Cha. Fra. D'Costa was a Konkani poet, dramatist and journalist.
Cha. Fra. was born in Mangalore on 10 October 1931 near Marnamikatta as the eldest of four children of Madthabai and Marcel D’Costa. He did his primary education in Cascia School and High School in Milagres School where the medium of instruction was English.[1] He moved to Bombay in 1948 and worked in the Election Commission for the first general election of independent India. Later he became an employee of B.E.S.T.[2]
He was also editor of Poinnari and later, after leaving Poinnari in 1959, Cha. Fra. D'Costa started Konkani periodicals such as Zag-mag, Vixal Konkonn (1961), Jivit (1983), and Udev (1976).[3]
He was a playwright who revolutionized Konkani theatre with his one-act plays. His plays were at par with European plays, in their substance and content. Though, many of his plays were adapted, some of them were better than the original. The lyrical beauty of his dialogues gave the plays a unique status of high quality. Because he was a progressive thinker, he questioned established values of religion and the state, through all his creative artistic expressions.He was a playwright who revolutionized Konkani theatre with his one-act plays. His plays were at par with European plays, in their substance and content. Though, many of his plays were adapted, some of them were better than the original. The lyrical beauty of his dialogues gave the plays a unique status of high quality. Because he was a progressive thinker, he questioned established values of religion and the state, through all his creative artistic expressions.
He won the Central Sahitya Akademi Award in 1989.[7]
. Manohar Rai Sardesai. A History of Konkani Literature: From 1500 to 1992. 81-7201-664-6. Sahitya Akademi. New Delhi. 336. 1 January 2000. 2011-11-20.