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{{short description|Pakistani scholar}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2017}}
{{Use Pakistani English|date=May 2017}}

{{Infobox person
| name = Akhtar Husain
| birth_date = 1912
| birth_place = [[Raipur]], [[British India]]
| death_date = 1992
| alma_mater = [[University of Paris]] (PhD)
}}
{{Progressive Writers' Movement}}

'''Dr Akhtar Husain''' (1912-1992<ref name="dawnbooksandauthors">{{cite web|url=http://www.dawn.com/news/770008/column-stars-from-the-past-akhtar-husain-raipuri-1912-1992-by-mehr-afshan-farooqi|title=COLUMN: Stars from the past: Akhtar Husain Raipuri (1912–1992) by Mehr Afshan Farooqi|author=Dawn Books And Authors|publisher=}}</ref> {{lang-ur|اختر حسین}}) also known as '''Dr Akhtar Husain Raipuri'''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tns.thenews.com.pk/akhtar-hussain-raipuri-life-and-times/|title=Raipuri's life and times|author=TNS Editor|work=TNS - The News on Sunday|access-date=16 March 2016|archive-date=2 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181002131111/http://tns.thenews.com.pk/akhtar-hussain-raipuri-life-and-times/|url-status=dead}}</ref> was a [[Pakistani people|Pakistani]] [[scholarly method|scholar]], [[journalist]] and [[lexicographer]].<ref name="dawnbooksandauthors" /> He is also the author of the book ''The Dust of the Road: A Translation of Gard-e-Raah'' that was translated into English many years after his death.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oupcanada.com/catalog/9780195472158.html|title=The Dust of the Road|publisher=}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-dust-of-the-road-a-translation-of-gard-e-raah-9780195472158?cc=ca&lang=en&|title=The Dust of the Road A Translation of Gard-e-Raah|publisher=}}</ref>

==Early life==
Akhtar Husain was born in the district of [[Raipur]]<ref>Coppola, Carlo. "Iqbal and the Progressive Movement." Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies 1.2 (1977): 49.</ref> in the [[British Indian Empire]], now within the state of [[Chhattisgarh]], [[Republic of India]]. He was born to Saiyyed Akbar Husain, an engineer stationed in Raipur. His mother Mumtazunnisa was a publisher in women's journals. She died at age twenty-six when Akhtar was just three.<ref name="dawnbooksandauthors"/>

As a child, Akhtar became fond of reading and saved money to buy books in [[Hindi]] (a major register of [[Hindustani language|Hindustani]] written in the [[Devanagari script]]), but could not read [[Urdu]] (another major register of Hindustani written in the [[Perso-Arabic script]]) as fluently. At age twelve, his school teacher asked him to help organize the school library, and his command over Hindi was so strong that, apart from reading it, he began writing in the language, and "his first story “Parajit” (Defeated) was published in Madhuri, a reputed literary journal, when he was only 16 years old."<ref name="dawnbooksandauthors"/>

Outside Urdu and Hindi, other languages he'd master are Sanskrit, Bengali, Persian, English and French.<ref>ʻAlī Javād Zaidī, ''A History of Urdu literature'', Sahitya Akademi (1993), p. 404</ref> Later in his life he'll have a command over Spanish as well.<ref>Saadia Salahuddin, [https://jang.com.pk/thenews/jul2007-weekly/nos-08-07-2007/lit.htm "Search for truth"], ''Jang''. Retrieved 5 October 2019.</ref>

==Education and career==
Husain moved to [[Calcutta]] to pursue advanced studies which at the time was also a major center for publication in [[Bengali language|Bengali]], Hindi and Urdu. But after leaving there in 1932, Husain went on to translate popular works from Bengali poet [[Qazi Nazrul Islam]] into Urdu. According to Husain, [[Babu Moolchand]] and [[Abdul Haq (Urdu scholar)|Maulvi Abdul Huq]] as his two major life influences.<ref name="dawnbooksandauthors"/>

He also became acquainted with friends with the poets [[Saghar Nizami]] and [[Majaz Nizami]]. Huq upon reading Husain's works encouraged him to increase his attention to literature rather than journalism. Huq encouraged Husain to assist him in the development of an English–Hindi dictionary and the publication of the Urdu journal. After Husain agreed, the two of them moved to [[Aurangabad, Maharashtra|Aurangabad]] where they started ''[[Anjuman-i Taraqqi-i Urdu]]'' and worked for about two years. During that time, Husain also reviewed Urdu books under the pseudonym "Nakhuda". Over this time bonds between Husain and Abdul Haq.<ref name="dawnbooksandauthors"/>

By 1935, Husain married Hamida, daughter of police officer and [[crime fiction]] novelist [[Zafar Omar]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Empires of the Indus|author=Alice Albina|chapter=Chapter One: Ramzan in Karachi|date=5 April 2010|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company, 2010|isbn=978-0393338607}}</ref> Akhtar Husain witnessed the historic 1936 meeting of [[Sahitya Parishad]] in which [[Mahatma Gandhi]] declared that [[Hindi]] rather than [[Hindustani language|Hindustani]] (which includes Urdu and technically [[Caribbean Hindustani]] as well) be the national language of [[Dominion of India|India]] upon independence.<ref name="dawnbooksandauthors"/>

Upon this, Haq stopped all his works in Hindi, including the development of the English-Hindi dictionary, and Husain left Aurangabad for [[Dehli]] where he had difficulty settling for a career as a result of his application being rejected.<ref name="dawnbooksandauthors"/>

He then applied to [[Sorbonne]] where he pursued a PHD in ancient life in the Indian subcontinent based on Sanskrit texts. His thesis adviser was [[Marc Bloch]]. He also briefly worked as a translator to support himself financially. He also later worked in news bulletins to write news analysis. He also worked with the Radio's Dictionary Committee.<ref name="dawnbooksandauthors1">{{cite web|url=http://www.dawn.com/news/770008/column-stars-from-the-past-akhtar-husain-raipuri-1912-1992-by-mehr-afshan-farooqi|title=COLUMN: Stars from the past: Akhtar Husain Raipuri (1912–1992) by Mehr Afshan Farooqi|author=Dawn Books And Authors|publisher=}}</ref>

By 1942, Husain became [[Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College]], [[Amritsar]]. Mutually, he also translated a three volume autobiography of Gorky. He also continued to write short stories (''Zindagi ka Mela''). By 1945, Husain worked as an assistant in the education department at [[Simla]], where he also got the opportunity to work for [[Maulana Abul Kalam Azad]].<ref name="dawnbooksandauthors1"/>

==Independence and the end of British Rule==
Two years within the end of the [[Second World War]] and the end of the [[British Raj]], Husain and his family relocated to [[Karachi]], [[Sindh]], [[Pakistan]]. It was around this time it was reported that violence between Brahmans and Muslims intensified.<ref name="ChatterjeeJeganathan2001">{{cite book|author1=Partha Chatterjee|author2=Pradeep Jeganathan|title=Community, Gender, and Violence: Subaltern Studies XI|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FBQX_05PhHsC|date=6 May 2001|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-50739-4}}</ref>

In Pakistan, Husain continued working in the educational fields, where he worked as secretary. Dissatisfied with the political direction Pakistani society had headed for, he took up a job at UNESCO where he retired from in 1972.<ref name="dawnbooksandauthors"/>

==Bibliography==
Some of his major works include:
*''La société dans le drame sanscrit''. PhD thesis written in French for the [[Sorbonne]], in 1939, 'on the society in [[Sanskrit drama]]'.
*''Adab aur inqilāb''. A critical study on prominent Urdu authors and their works.
*''Ḥabash aur At̤āliyah''. History of [[Italy]] and [[Ethiopia]].
*''Payām-i shabāb''. Translation of [[Bengali poetry]] from [[Kazi Nazrul Islam]].
*''Roshan mīnār : tanqīdī maẓāmīn kā majmūʻah''. Essays on [[Urdu literature]].
*''Tāsh ke patte''. Urdu translation from the English of [[James Hadley Chase]]'s ''The Joker in the Pack''.
*''Śakuntalā''. Urdu translation from the Sanskrit of [[Kalidasa|Kālidāsa]]'s [[Shakuntala (play)|Śakuntalā]].

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.urdustudies.com/pdf/25/13RaipuriLiterature.pdf Akhtar Husain Raipuri- Literature and life]
*
*[https://www.geni.com/family-tree/index/6000000003526996181 Akhtar Husain's family tree] on Geni.com

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Husain, Akhtar}}
[[Category:Pakistani academics]]
[[Category:1912 births]]
[[Category:1992 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Pakistani writers]]
[[Category:Urdu critics]]
[[Category:Pakistani critics]]
[[Category:Urdu-language fiction writers]]
[[Category:Writers from Karachi]]
[[Category:People from Karachi]]
[[Category:Pakistani translators]]
[[Category:Urdu-language short story writers]]
[[Category:Pakistani male short story writers]]
[[Category:Pakistani short story writers]]
[[Category:Pakistani socialists]]
[[Category:Linguists from Pakistan]]
[[Category:Banaras Hindu University alumni]]
[[Category:Hindustani-language writers]]
[[Category:Pakistani people of Bihari descent]]
[[Category:20th-century linguists]]
[[Category:20th-century translators]]

Akhtar Husain - Revision history

->DEFCON5: added progressive writers movement template