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LITERATURE

ahitya Akademi winner Colony in the United States; Bellaggio in National Comparative Literature As-
Nabaneeta Dev Sen died at Italy; and the Mishkenot Sha’ananim in sociation. She was a Fellow of the Royal
in South Kolkata on Novem- Jerusalem. Asiatic Society of Great Britain. She was
ber 7 after suffering from She delivered the Radhakrishnan a member of the Advisory Board for
S cancer for a long time. Dev Memorial Lecture series (1996–1997) at Bengali, Sahitya Akademi from 1978 to
Sen was born in Calcutta (now Kolkata) Oxford University on epic poetry. She 1982, as well as the Member and Con-
into a Bengali family on 13 January 1938. was a visiting professor and a visiting venor, Bharatiya Jnanpith Award Lan-
She was the only child of the poet-cou- creative writer at several universities guage Advisory Committee from 1975
ple Narendra Dev and Radharani Devi, including Harvard, Cornell, Columbia, to 1990.
who wrote under pen name Aparaji- Chicago (USA), Humboldt (Germany), In 2002, Dev Sen retired as Professor
ta Devi. She was given her name by Universities of Toronto, British Colum- of Comparative Literature at Jadavpur
Rabindranath Tagore. bia (Canada), Melbourne, New South University, Calcutta. She worked with
Her childhood experiences included Wales (Australia), and El Collegio de the treatment of women in world epics;
World War II air raids, seeing people Mexico. she wrote several short stories present-
starving in the Bengal famine of 1943, She held the Maytag Chair of Crea- ing Sita in a different way from how
and the impact of large numbers of tive Writing and Comparative Litera- she appears in the Ramayana). From
refugees arriving in Calcutta after the ture at Colorado College, 1988–1989. 2003 to 2005, Dev Sen was the J. P. Naik
partition of India. She attended Gokhale She represented herself and India in Distinguished Fellow at the Centre of
Memorial Girls’ School and Lady Bra- Women’s Development Studies in New
bourne College. Delhi.
She received her BA in English from Her childhood experiences She was a University Grants Com-
Presidency University, Calcutta (then a included World War II mission Senior Fellow at University of
college), and was a student of inaugural air raids, seeing people Delhi.
batch of the Department of Compara-
tive Literature at Jadavpur University, starving in the Bengal Literary career
from where she obtained her MA in famine of 1943, and the Dev Sen published more than 80 books
1958. She obtained another MA (with impact of large numbers in Bengali: poetry, novels, short stories,
distinction) in comparative literature plays, literary criticism, personal essays,
from Harvard University in 1961 and of refugees arriving in travelogues, humour writing, transla-
went on to receive a doctorate from Calcutta after the partition tions and children’s literature. Her first
Indiana University in 1964. collection of poems Pratham Pratyay
In 1960, she married Amartya Sen, of India. In 1960, she (First Confidence) was published in
an economist and academician and married Amartya Sen, an 1959. Her second poetry collection
then a Lecturer of Economics at the economist and academician Swagato Debdoot was published 12
Jadavpur University, who would be years later.
awarded the Nobel prize four decades Dev Sen received many national
later and who was also christened by many international conferences, both and international awards and hon-
Rabindranath Tagore. She moved to academic and literary, and at the Festi- ours, including: Gouridevi Memorial
Britain with him and they became the val of India USA in 1986. Award, Mahadevi Verma Award (1992),
parents of two daughters, Antara Dev She held important executive posi- Celli Award from Rockefeller Founda-
Sen and Nandana Sen. She then com- tions in international academic bod- tion (1993), Sarat Award from Bhagal-
pleted her post-doctoral research at ies like the International Comparative pur University of Bihar (1994), Prasad
the University of California at Berke- Literature Association (1973–1979), and Puraskar, Sahitya Akademi Award
ley and Newnham College, Cambridge the International Association of Semi- (1999). She has also received Rabindra
University. otic and Structural Studies (1989–1994). Puraskar, Kabir Samman, Samskriti
After her divorce in 1976, she re- She was the chief editor of Bengali in Award, Kamal Kumari National Award
turned to Calcutta with her daughters. the Macmillan’s Modern Indian Novels (2004), Mystic Kalinga Literary Award
Her hobbies included reading, records, in English Translation series. Dev Sen (2017), and the Big Little Book Award for
and travelling. In addition to Ben- was the Vice-President of the Bangi- children’s literature in 2017, when the
gali and English, she could read Hindi, ya Sahitya Parishad, an academy for award focused on Bengali writing. She
Oriya, Assamese, French, German, Bengali literature. She was the founder was awarded the Padma Shri (2000),
Greek, Sanskrit, and Hebrew. and president of West Bengal Women the fourth highest civillian award by the
Dev Sen was a writer in residence Writers’ Association. Government of India..
at several international artists’ colo- She was the founder secretary and
nies, including Yaddo and MacDowell later Vice-President of the Indian LETTERS@TEHELKA.COM

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