| Zia Haider | |
| Native Name: | জিয়া হায়দার |
| Native Name Lang: | bn |
| Birth Name: | Sheikh Faisal Abdur Rouf Mohammad Ziauddin Haider |
| Birth Date: | 18 November 1936 |
| Birth Place: | Pabna District, Bengal Presidency, British India |
| Alma Mater: | University of Dhaka |
| Occupation: | Writer, poet, playwright and professor |
| Relatives: | Rashid Haider (brother) |
| Nationality: | Bangladeshi |
| Awards: | Ekushey Padak (2001) Bangla Academy Award (1977) |
Sheikh Faisal Abdur Rouf Mohammad Ziauddin Haider (known as Zia Haider; 18 November 1936 - 2 September 2008)[1] was a Bangladeshi writer, poet, playwright, translator and professor. He was the founder president of Nagorik Natya Sampradaya and founder of the Bangladesh Institute of Theater Arts. He wrote 7 poems, 4 plays and translated several plays. He was awarded Ekushey Padak by the Government of Bangladesh in 2001 and Bangla Academy Literary Award in 1977.[2] [3]
Sheikh Faisal Abdur Rauf Muhammad Ziauddin Haider was born into an aristocratic Bengali Muslim Zamindar family of Sheikhs on 18 November 1936 to Hakimuddin Sheikh and Rahima Khatun in Doharpara in Pabna Town of British India. His father Hakimuddin Sheikh was a prominent Zamindar in Pabna Town and would have received the title of Khan Bahadur from the ruling British Raj had the Partition of India been delayed a few years.[4] [5] He was the eldest among his brothers, Rashid Haider, Makid Haider, Daud Haider, Zahid Haider, Abid Haider and Arif Haider.[6]
Haider started his career in journalism. In 1961, he joined the weekly Chitrali. Later, he joined as a professor at the Government Tolaram College, Narayanganj. Occasionally he took over as the officer of the Culture Department of Bangla Academy. After that he worked as a senior producer in Pakistan Television. He started teaching as an Assistant to the Department of Fine Arts of Chittagong University in 1970. He founded the Nagorik Natya Sampradaya. He established the Bangladesh Institute of Theater Arts (BETA).[7]