Premendra Mitra Explained

Premendra Mitra
Birth Date:1904 9, df=yes
Birth Place:Varanasi, United Provinces, British India (now in Uttar Pradesh, India)
Death Place:Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Occupation:Poet, writer, director
Nationality:Indian
Spouse:Beena Mitra
Awards:Rabindra Puraskar
Padma Shri
Movement:Kallol, Little magazine movement
Alma Mater:South Suburban School (Main), Scottish Church College, Asutosh College
Genre:Science fiction, Ghost stories, Rhymes, Detective fiction, Fairytale, Coming-of-age story

Premendra Mitra (4 September 1904 – 3 May 1988)[1] [2] [3] was an Indian poet, writer and film director in the Bengali language. He was also a practitioner of Bengali science fiction. His critique of humanity led him to believe that for it to survive, human beings had to "forget their differences and be united".[4]

Birth and family

Premendra Mitra was born on 4 September 1904 at his father's workplace Varanasi. His ancestral house was at Rajpur in the district of South 24 Parganas of West Bengal. He belonged to the renowned Mitra family of Konnagar (in Hooghly district, West Bengal). His father's name was Gyanendranath Mitra and his mother was Suhasini Debi. He lost his mother at an early age.[5] [6]

Life

Premendra Mitra was born in Varanasi, India where his father Gyanendranath Mitra was an employee of the Indian Railways and because of that he had the opportunity to travel to many places in India. Having lost his mother, who died during his childhood, he was brought up by his grandparents in Uttar Pradesh and spent his later life in Calcutta (now Kolkata) and Dhaka. He was a student of South Suburban School (Main) and enrolled for a BA at the Scottish Church College in Calcutta which he left prematurely to study agriculture in Santiniketan with a friend of Rabindranath Tagore, Leonard Elmhirst. Because it did not hold his interest, he returned to education first on an undergraduate course in Dhaka and in 1925 at Asutosh College in Calcutta where he assisted the research of Dinesh Chandra Sen.[7] In particular, his creation of the character of GhanaDa [ঘনাদা] (meaning: 'Elder brother Ghana' in Bengali) won him public recognition.[8]

Bibliography

Poems

Short story collections

Bengali

English

(Not actually written by him, later translated)

For children

Rhymes

Fairy tales, ghost stories and teenager stories

Ghost stories

Fun stories

Science fictions

He was among the pioneers of Bengali science fiction. He started writing science fictions to make children and preteens familiar with science.

Novels

Characters

Ghanada

See main article: Ghanada. Ghanada (Original name: Ghanashyam Das) is a middle-aged resident of a mess at 72, Banamali Naskar Lane in Kolkata, West Bengal with the four young members Shibu, Shishir, Gour and Sudhir (the narrator of the stories). He claims himself to be full of thrilling experience all over the globe (and, even in Mars!) to tackle conspiracies. Also, some of the stories are about Ganado (Original name: Ghonoram Das [ঘনরাম দাস]) in South America, and Bachanram Das [বচনরাম দাস] in Agra at Medieval India, his ancestors. First Ghanada story was মশা (The Mosquito) published in 1945.[10]

Mamababu

Mamababu (Maternal Uncle) lived in Burma on account of his service. Original name of this middle-aged man is never stated. His expeditions are written in many novels and short-stories, such as:

This character inspired Sunil Gangopadhyay to write his famous Kakababu series.

Parashor Barma

See main article: Parashor Barma. Parashor Barma is a detective but he tries to be a poet.[11] First Parashor story is Goyenda Kobi Parashor [গোয়েন্দা কবি পরাশর] (Detective Poet Parashor) in 1932. Some other stories are:

Two Ghanada tales also include Parashar Barma : Parasharey Ghanaday and Ghanada Phirlen.[13]

Mejokorta

Mejokorta is a ghost-hunter. Books featuring Mejokorta are collected in an anthology named Bhoot Shikari Mejokorta Ebong...

Publishers of Mitra's writings

Leela Majumdar translated several Ghanada tales in a volume called Adventures of Ghanada.[14] The latest English translation of his Ghanada stories (Mosquito and Other Stories) was published by Penguin Books India in 2004.[14]

Filmography

Direction

Story, screenplay, lyrics and dialogues

Notes and References

  1. Book: Sibaji Bandyopadhyay. Sibaji Bandyopadhyay Reader. 2012. 25 June 2012. Worldview Publications. 978-81-920651-8-2. 235–.
  2. Book: Mohan Lal . 1992 . Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature . V . 25 June 2012 . New Delhi . Sahitya Akademi . 3889 . 978-81-260-1221-3 . Premendra Mitra (1904-1988).
  3. Samsad Bengali Charitabhidhan Vol.II edited Anjali Bose, Published by Sagitta Samsad, Kolkata, Edition January,2019,Page-240
  4. Kabra . Shradha . Bridges to Breakthroughs: Tracing the Genealogy of the Indian Science Fiction and Fantasy Genre in English . The Criterion . December 2012 . III . IV . 0976-8165.
  5. News: https://www.anandabazar.com/editorial/premendra-mitra-s-schooling-was-done-in-nalhati-1.956549. bn:প্রেমেন্দ্র মিত্রের স্কুলশিক্ষা হয়েছিল নলহাটিতে. Anandabazar patrika.
  6. News: https://www.anandabazar.com/supplementary/patrika/a-write-up-on-writer-premandra-mitra-1.366533. bn:নেশা ছিল পালিয়ে যাবার. Anandabazar patrika.
  7. Premendra Mitra Mindscape (Bengali), Sahitya Akademi, 2000
  8. Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature, Sahitya Akademi, 1992
  9. Debjani Sengupta (2003). Web site: Sadhanbabu's Friends: Science Fiction in Bengal from 1882–1961 . 16 August 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20081011060538/http://www.sarai.net/publications/readers/03-shaping-technologies/resolveUid/8d9312b206058106c1a2099f849783aa . 11 October 2008 . dead ., Sarai Reader: Shaping Technologies 3.
  10. Book: Surajit. Dasgupta . bn:ঘনাদা সমগ্র - পর্ব ১. Ananda Publishers. 2000. 81-7215-395-3.
  11. Web site: Authors of Bengali mystery stories (গোয়েন্দা ও রহস্যকাহিনী লেখক) . Banglamystery.com . 11 July 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120402215455/http://www.banglamystery.com/Bengali_mystery_literature_writers.htm . 2 April 2012.
  12. Book: Premendra Mitra. Adyopanta Parashar (Bengali). Sakkhorata Prakashan. 1977. Kolkata. 3.
  13. from the 'Short stories from the 1980s' page of the Ghanada Gallery website : http://ghanada.wix.com/ghanada-gallery#!short-stories-from-the-1980s/c1gv5
  14. from the 'Translations' page of the Ghanada Gallery website : http://ghanada.wix.com/ghanada-gallery#!translations/c14zm

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Premendra Mitra".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.