| Shrinivási | |
| Birth Name: | Martinus Haridat Lutchman |
| Birth Date: | 12 December 1926 |
| Birth Place: | Vaderszorg, Kwatta, Suriname |
| Death Place: | Willemstad, Curaçao |
| Nationality: | Dutch[1] |
| Occupation: | Poet, teacher |
Shrinivási (12 December 1926 – 26 January 2019)[2] was a Surinamese poet. Martinus Haridat Lutchman was born in Kwatta, Suriname and a teacher by profession. In 1949 he moved to Curaçao[3] where his earliest poetry was published as Fernando in the magazine Caraïbisch Venster.[4] Lutchman decided to change his pseudonym to Shrinivási which means noble resident of Suriname,[1] and published in Tongoni (1958-1959), Soela (1962-1964) en Moetete (1968). His first publication of a collection of poetry was Anjali in 1963.[4] His best known collections are Pratikshā (1968), Om de zon (1972), and Sangam (1992).[3]
The majority of poems were written in Dutch with the occasional poem in Hindi, but Pratikshá (1968) contains the first poetry ever publiced in Sarnami.[4] His poetry is mainly about the fortunes and misfortunes of his native Suriname.[4] Shrinivási tried to reconcile the prevailing opposites in his native country.[5] In 1963, Shrinivási returned to Suriname.[1] Later he became a nomad alternating between Suriname, Curaçao, and the Netherlands.[4] The only known prose written by Shrinivási is Sint Annabaai.[1]
In 1974 he was awarded the Gouvernor Currie Prize.[6] He received the Suriname State Prize for Literature (1989-1991) for Sangam.[7]