Shakti Chattopadhyay শক্তি চট্টোপাধ্যায় |
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Shakti Chattopadhyay
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Born |
Baharu village, 24 Parganas district, Bengal, India |
November 25, 1933
Died | March 23, 1995 Calcutta, West Bengal, India |
(aged 61)
Pen name | Sphulinga Samaddar |
Occupation | Poet |
Language | Bengali |
Nationality | Indian |
Period | 1961-1995 |
Notable works | Jete Pari Kintu Keno Jabo |
Notable awards |
Ananda Puraskar Sahitya Akademi Award |
Shakti Chattopadhyay (Bengali: শক্তি চট্টোপাধ্যায় Shokti Chôţţopaddhae) (November 25, 1933 - March 23, 1995) was a Bengali poet and writer.
Shakti Chattopadhyay was born at Baharu village in modern-day South 24 Parganas district, Paschimbanga (West Bengal), India to Bamanath Chattopadhyay and Kamala Devi. He lost his father at the age of four and brought up by his maternal grandfather. He came to Bagbazar, Calcutta in 1948 and got admitted to Maharaja Cossimbazar Polytechnic School in class VIII. Here he was introduced to Marxism by a teacher. In 1949 he established Pragati Library and started a hand-written magazine, Pragati, which was soon changed into a printed one, changing the name to Bahnishikha. He passed Matriculation Examination in 1951 and got admitted to the City College to study commerce as his maternal uncle, who was a businessman and also his guardian, promised him a job of an accountant. It was the same year when he got membership of the Communist Party of India (CPI). In 1953, he passed Intermediate Commerce Examination, but gave up studying commerce and got admitted to the Presidency College (now Presidency University, Kolkata) with Honours in Bengali literature but he did not appear in the examination.
In 1956, he had to leave his maternal uncle’s home and moved to a slum at Ultadanga along with his mother and brother. At this time he was solely dependent on the meagre wages of his brother. In March 1956, his poem "Yama" was published in Kabita, a literary magazine published by Buddhadeb Bose. After that he started writing for Krittibas and other magazines. Buddhadeb Bose also invited him to join the Comparative Literature course in newly opened Jadavpur University. He joined the course, but could not complete it either. In 1958, he terminated his relationship with the CPI.