Ranjitram Mehta

Ranjitram Mehta
Portrait of Ranjitram Mehta
Native name	રણજિતરામ વાવાભાઇ મહેતા
Born	(1881-10-25)25 October 1881 Surat, British India (now in Gujarat, India)
Died	4 June 1917(1917-06-04) (aged 35) Bombay, British India
Occupation	Researcher, Writer
Language	Gujarati
Nationality	Indian
Education	Bachelor of Arts
Alma mater	Gujarat College
Notable works	Ranjitram Gadyasanchay 1-2 (1982)
Children	Asoka Mehta

Ranjitram Vavabhai Mehta (Gujarati: રણજિતરામ વાવાભાઇ મહેતા) (25 October 1881 - 4 June 1917) was a Gujarati language writer.

He was born on 25 October 1881 in Surat to Vavabhai. He completed his schooling in Ahmedabad where his father was the Chief Engineer of the Ahmedabad Municipal Committee. He completed Bachelor of Arts from Gujarat College in 1903 and served as a fellow for eight months. From 1906 to 1917, he served as a personal assistant of Prof. Gajjar and Prabhashankar Pattani, Dewan of Bhavnagar State. He had served as principle of high school at Umreth in 1905.

He founded Gujarat Sahitya Sabha in 1904 and Gujarati Sahitya Parishad in 1905. He died on 4 June 1917 by drowning in sea at Juhu beach. The highest award of Gujarati literature and culture, Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak, is named after him.

His son Asoka Mehta (1911-1984) was an Indian independence activist and socialist politician.

He worked in different genres of literature such as essay, novel, drama and short story. Ranjitkruti Sangrah, a collection of his writings, were published posthumously in 1921 by K. M. Munshi. Ranjitramna Nibandho, a collection of his essay, was also published posthumously in 1923. Gujarat Sahitya Parishad published his complete work as Ranjitram Gadyasanchay 1-2 in 1982 on his birth centenary. Gujarati Sahitya Akademi has published Ranjitram Vavavbhai ane Temnu Sahitya. His Ahmad Rupande (1908) was a love story between Hindu girl and Muslim boy. In 1905, he had coined the Gujarati words Lokgeet and Lokkatha for folklore in a paper presented at Gujarati Sahitya Parishad.