Vilianapcm at 16:37, 9 February 2026

2026-02-09T16:37:53Z

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{{Short description|Historian of Bengali literature}}
{{distinguish|Asit Bandopadhyay|Asit Kumar Banerjee}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Asitkumar Bandyopadhyay
| image =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1920|06|03|df=y}}
| birth_place = Nakful, [[Bangaon subdivision]], [[North 24 Parganas district|North 24 Paraganas]], [[British India|India]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|2003|03|21|1920|06|03|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Kolkata]], [[West Bengal]], India
| occupation = Historian, Professor, Researcher,President of [[Paschimbanga Bangla Akademi]]{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}
| language = [[Bengali language|Bengali]]
| genre = Research, History
| notable_works = Bangla sahityer itibritta,<ref name=sahitya>{{Cite book |last=Bandyopadhyay |first=Asitkumar |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.301845 |title=বাংলা সাহিত্যের ইতিবৃত্ত |date= |publisher=Dinesh Chandra Basu, Modern Book Agency Pvt. Ltd. |year=1959 |location=Kolkata |language=bn |trans-title=History of Bengali Literature}}</ref>
 Unabingsha shatabdir Prathamardha aar Bangla sahitya,<ref name=century>{{Cite book |last=Bandyopadhyay |first=Asitkumar |title=ঊনবিংশ শতাব্দীর প্রথমার্ধ ও বাংলা সাহিত্য|language=bn |trans-title=19th century and Bengali literature}}</ref> Bangla Sahitye [[Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar|Bidyasagar]], Sahitya Jigyasay Rabindranath.
| education = [[Howrah Zilla School]] Surendranath College [[Calcutta University]]
}}

'''Asit Kumar Bandyopadhyay''' (3 June 1920 – 21 March 2003) was a historian of [[Bengali literature]], professor, researcher and former president of [[Paschimbanga Bangla Akademi#Members|Paschimbanga Bangla Akademi]]. He got famous due to his book ''Bangla Sahityer Itibritta'' which is published in nine volumes.<ref name="Basu">{{Cite book |last=Basu |first=Anjali |title=Samsad Bangali Charitabidhan |date=Jan 2019 |publisher=Sahitya Samsad |isbn=978-81-7955-292-6 |edition=Second |location=Kolkata |pages=43 |language=Bengali}}</ref>

==Life==

Asitkumar Banerjee was born in Nakphule Matulalay in present [[North 24 Parganas District]] [[Bangaon subdivision]]. His father was Akshay Kumar Banerjee, mother was Charubala Devi. From 1925, they lived in [[Howrah]].

In 1938, he passed matric from [[Howrah Zilla School]] in Bengal with 77% marks, becoming the first in the district in this subject. He then stood first in the IA examination from Ripon College(now [[Surendranath College]]) among candidates from Bengal and [[Assam]].Then from [[Calcutta University]] in BA and MA examination (in 1945) in [[Bengali Literature]], he stood first in the first class and won the gold medal. During his college life, he translated the speeches given by [[Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose]] from 1942 into Bengali and printed them in ''Forward'' newspaper. As a student, his stories were published in ''[[Desh (magazine)|Desh]]'' and [[Navashakti]] of [[Advaita Mallavarman]].

After passing his MA in 1945, he started teaching at [[Nabadwip Vidyasagar College]] that same year. Later he joined Ripon College and the Bengali Department of [[Calcutta University]] in 1957. In 2002, after the death of [[Annadashankar Ray|Annandashankar Roy]], he took the post of president of [[Paschimbanga Bangla Akademi]] and remained in that position for life.<ref name="Basu"/>

==Notable works==
* '''Bangla sahityer itibritta''': This is Asitkumar Banerjee's best work. It is a detailed history of [[Bengali literature]] published in nine volumes.<ref name=sahitya /> He also authored a summarised version of the book.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bandyopadhyay |first=Asitkumar |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.458177 |title=বাংলা সাহিত্যের সংক্ষিপ্ত ইতিবৃত্ত |date= |publisher=Dinesh Chandra Basu, Modern Book Agency Pvt. Ltd. |year=1963 |location=Kolkata |language=bn |trans-title=Short history of Bengali Literature}}</ref>
* ''Smriti Bismriti Darpan'' (Autobiography)

Other books written by him are written on the [[Bengali Renaissance]]. Notable among these are:
* ''Unabingsha shatabdir Prathamardha aar Bangla sahitya''<ref name = century />
* ''Bangla Sahitye [[Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar|Bidyasagar]]''
* ''Sahitya Jigyasay Rabindranath''

He also authored some books of ''Sahitya Parishat Patrika''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bandyopadhyay |first=Asitkumar |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.337356 |title=Parishad patrika |publisher=Vangiya Sahitya Parishat |year=1977 |location=Kolkata |language=bn}}</ref>

==Honours==
Apart from being president of [[Paschimbanga Bangla Akademi]], he was the Research Fellow of the [[Asiatic Society]] under [[Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay]] of Bengali language and literature. He has also gone abroad for several conferences and guest lectures. In 1981 he attended the ''International Buddha Mahabhava'' Conference at [[Oxford University]] and in 1996 he was a visiting professor at the [[University of Arizona]]. Asitkumar has received several awards and honors as a thinker and researcher. His wife Vinita Gangopadhyay (29 April 1925 – 15 April 2006), professor of history at [[Bijoy Krishna Girls' College|Howrah Girls' College]], wrote historical novels and travelogues under the pseudonym Sukanya.<ref name=Basu/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Asit Kumar Bandyopadhyay}}
[[Category:1920 births]]
[[Category:2003 deaths]]
[[Category:Bengali historians]]
[[Category:Bengali-language writers]]
[[Category:Bangiya Sahitya Parishat]]
[[Category:Scholars from West Bengal]]

Asit Kumar Bandyopadhyay - Revision history

Vilianapcm at 16:37, 9 February 2026