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{{Infobox person
| name = Chittaranjan Das
| image = CR Das (Writer).jpg
| caption = Chittaranjan Das
| birthname =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1923|10|3}}
| birth_place = [[Bhagalpur]], [[Jagatsinghpur district]], [[Orissa]], India
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2011|1|16 |1923|10|3}}
| death_place = [[Bhubaneswar]], [[Orissa]]
| othername =
| occupation = {{flatlist|
* Educator
* translator
* author
* social reformer
}}

| yearsactive =
| alma_mater = [[Visva-Bharati University]], [[Shantiniketan]]<br>[[University of Copenhagen]], [[Denmark]]
| parents =
| spouse = Usha Das
| children = 1 (son)
| works = Gabaksha to the world, Orissa and Odia school of life
| awards = {{ubl|1998 [[Orissa Sahitya Akademy Award]]|Central Literary Academy Award|Sharla Award}}
}}

'''Chittaranjan Das''', popularly known as '''Chitta Bhai''' or '''Chitbhai''' (3 October 1923 – 16 January 2011),<ref>{{cite web | url = http://orissadiary.com/personality/writer/CHITTARANJANDAS%20.asp | title = orissadiaryରେ ଚିତ୍ତରଞ୍ଜନ ଦାସ [Chittaranjan Das in Orissadiary] | last = | first = | date = | website = Orissadiary.com | publisher = | access-date = 29 December 2023| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110925181831/http://orissadiary.com/personality/writer/CHITTARANJANDAS%20.asp | archive-date = 25 September 2011 }}</ref> was an [[India|Indian]] writer, translator, critic, and social reformer from [[Orissa]]. A multilingual, he focused his works in [[Odia language]], covering a wide range of topics including education, literature, cultural creativity, social criticism, social work, sociology, and religion.<ref name="SAGE_Giri"/><ref name="TribalTrib">{{cite web
| url = https://www.etribaltribune.com/index.php/volume-6/mv6i1/67-authors/400-chittaranjan-das
| title = Chittaranjan Das
| last =
| first =
| date = n.d.
| website = ISSN: 2249 3433
| publisher = The Tribal Tribune
| access-date = 30 December 2023
| quote = }}</ref>

Considered one of the most prolific writers in Odia, with numerous diaries, essays, reviews, autobiographies, memoirs, columns, textbooks, and monographs,<ref name="OdishaPlus">{{cite web
| url = https://www.odisha.plus/2023/08/chitta-ranjan-das-is-often-called-socrates-of-odisha/
| title = Chitta Ranjan Das is Often Called 'Socrates of Odisha'
| last = Parichha
| first = Bhaskar
| date = 19 August 2023
| website = Odisha+
| publisher =
| access-date = 29 December 2023
}}</ref> Das made many innovations in the fields of translation, essays, criticism and travelogue writing. His columns were published regularly in various newspapers. Knowing as many as 18 languages,<ref name="TH_PassesAway">{{cite news | last = | first = | title = Chitta Bhai passes away | newspaper = The Hindu | location = Bhubaneswar | pages = | language = | publisher = Kasturi & Sons | date = 18 January 2011 | url = https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-otherstates/Chitta-Bhai-passes-away/article15522739.ece | access-date = 29 December 2023}}</ref> Das has taught in [[Germany]], [[Finland]] and [[Israel]] before returning to India.<ref>{{cite book | last = Dutt | first = Kartik Chandra | author-link = | title = Who's who of Indian Writers, 1999: A-M | publisher = Sahitya Akademi | volume = 1 | edition = | date = 1999 | location = New Delhi | pages = 273 | language = | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=QA1V7sICaIwC&pg=PA273 | isbn = 81-260-0873-3 | jfm =}}</ref> He was the first to translate the [[Kural]] into Odia.<ref name="TirukkuralTrans"/> Known as "Socrates of Odisha",<ref name="IE_NoMore"/><ref>{{cite web
| url = https://borderlessjournal.com/2023/08/14/chittaranjan-das-a-centenary-tribute/
| title = Chittaranjan Das: A Centenary Tribute
| last = Parichha
| first = Bhaskar
| date = 14 August 2023
| website = Borderless
| publisher = Borderless Journal
| access-date = 30 December 2023
| quote = }}</ref> Das died in [[Bhubaneswar]] on 16 January 2011.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.odisha360.batoi.com/news/918/a-prolific-writer-chittaranjan-das-is-no-more | title = A prolific writer, Chittaranjan Das is no more | last = | first = | date = January 2011 | website = Odisha360 | access-date = 29 December 2023 }}</ref>

==Early life and education==
Das was born in 1923 in [[Bhagalpur]] village in [[Jagatsinghpur district]], [[Orissa]] as the third child of five boys and three girls. After schooling in his native village, he attended Punang School, then Ranihat Minor School, and then the Ravenshaw Collegiate School. After passing the matriculation examination in 1941, he enrolled at Ravenshaw College in [[Cuttack]], where he became an active member of the [[Communist Party of India]]. Inspired by [[Manmohan Mishra]], he became involved in the [[Indian independence movement|independence movement]].<ref name="OdishaPlus"/> In 1942, he joined the Quit India Movement and was imprisoned.<ref name="IE_NoMore"/> During his jail term, he started learning languages, particularly French.<ref name="OdishaPlus"/>

In 1945, Das was released from prison and pursued his higher studies at [[Rabindranath Tagore]]'s [[Shantiniketan]] and at [[Copenhagen University]] in [[Denmark]].<ref name="TH_PassesAway"/> He studied psychology, sociology, and cultural anthropology.<ref name="OdishaPlus"/> He was trained in [[clinical psychology]] at the Vienna School established by [[Sigmund Freud]], where he met philosopher [[Martin Buber]].<ref name="OdishaPlus"/> In mid-1950s, he started an experimental school named Jeevana Vidyalaya (School of Life).<ref name="SAGE_Giri">{{cite journal
| last = Giri
| first = Ananta Kumar
| author-link =
| title = Chitta Ranjan Das: A Creative Thinker
| journal = Social Change
| volume = 41
| issue = 3
| pages =
| publisher = SAGE Publications
| date = 2011
| language =
| url = https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/004908571104100302
| jstor =
| issn = 0049-0857
| doi = 10.1177/004908571104100302
| s2cid = 145620532
| access-date = 30 December 2023| url-access = subscription
}}</ref>

Das was married to Usha Das, a gynecologist, with whom he had one son.<ref name="TOI_PassesAway"/>

==Literary career==
Das returned to India in 1954 and joined the Jibana Vidyalaya, a school for basic Gandhian education and Gandhian ideals of living independently, at [[Champattimunda]] in Odisha established by Nabakrushna Choudhury and Malati Devi. He later became the head master of the institution. He resigned from the school after four years to pursue a teaching assignment near [[Agra]].<ref name="OdishaPlus"/> Upon his return to Odisha, Das was attracted by the teachings of Sri Aurobindo and in 1973 started teaching at the Institute of Integral Education in [[Bhubaneswar]]. He remained associated with this movement until his death.<ref name="OdishaPlus"/>

Das was proficient in several languages, including [[Hindi]], [[Urdu]], [[Bengali language|Bengali]], [[Assamese language|Assamese]], [[Sanskrit]], [[Danish language|Danish]], [[Finnish language|Finnish]], [[French language|French]], [[Spanish language|Spanish]], and [[English language|English]]. His studies focused on many areas of social and human sciences such as philosophy, psychology, religious studies, linguistics, and school studies. He wrote or translated into Odia as many as 250 books.<ref name="OdishaPlus"/>

Das began his writing career with an article titled "Socrates" in the Ravenshaw Collegiate magazine ''Sikshabandhu'' in 1937 and went on to regularly contributing to newspapers, including major Odia dailies such as ''Dharitri'', ''Pragativadi'', ''Sambad'', and ''Samaja''.<ref name="OdishaPlus"/> An avid traveller, he wrote books on his observations on the social, cultural, and political lives of the countries he visited and translated several works from those countries.<ref name="OdishaPlus"/><ref>{{cite news
| last = Routray
| first = Sailen
| title = A requiem for solidarity: The travels and writings of Chittaranjan Das
| newspaper = The Hindu
| location =
| pages =
| language =
| publisher = Kasturi & Sons
| date = 30 March 2019
| url = https://www.thehindu.com/books/a-requiem-for-solidarity-the-travels-and-writings-of-chittaranjan-das/article26665390.ece
| access-date = 29 December 2023}}</ref> His personal diaries contained several incidents and his autobiographical diary entries were published as ''Rohitara Daeri'' (Rohit's Diary), a series of more than 20 volumes. Although he had a good command of more than a dozen languages, including German, Danish, and Finnish, Sanskrit, Pali, Urdu, and Bengali, he wrote chiefly in Odia.<ref name="OdishaPlus"/>

Das's significant work included translating Sri Aurobindo's ''Life Divine''<ref name="OdishaPlus"/> and Valluvar's ''[[Tirukkural]]'' into Odia.<ref name="TirukkuralTrans"/>

=== List of Works ===
* The School of Life
* Jungle Letter
* Stone and Shalagram
* Waves and Currents
* I Am Young in Race
* Society: Change and Development
* Culture and Odisha
* Orissa and Odia
* Monographs and Other Essays
* Shalatirth
* Ma Nishad
* Nail Mirror
* The Backbone Is Ten Directions
* Rohit's Diary
* Leader and Narayan
* Watch the World
* Gandhi Gopbandhu
* ''Mitrasya Chakhusa'' (Through the Eyes of a Friend) (autobiography in Odia)

;Translations
* Life Divine, 3 Volumes (Translation of [[Sri Aurobindo]]'s ''Life Divine'')
* Danish Letters (translation of ''The Pilgrim Kamanita'', a Danish book on Denmark)
* Orthodox translation of Saint-Exupéry's English book ''The Little Prince''.
* Translation of [[Khalil Gibran]]'s English book ''[[The Prophet (book)|The Prophet]]'' into Odia
* English translation of [[Pasternak]]'s book ''Doctor Zhivago''.
* ''Kural'', Odia translation of the [[Kural]] (published by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bhubaneswar) (1978).<ref name="TirukkuralTrans">{{cite book | last1 = Tamilselvan | first1 = R. | last2 = Manimala | first2 = J. | last3 = Murali | first3 = M. | last4 = Mathan | first4 = V. P. S. | last5 = Amirtharaj | first5 = T. Vijay | title = உலக மொழிகளில் திருக்குறள் மொழிபெயர்ப்புகள் [Tirukkural translations in world languages] | publisher = Kaavya | edition = 1st | date = 2017 | location = Chennai | pages = |isbn=978-93-86576-35-4 |ref={{sfnRef|Tamilselvan et al., 2017}} }}</ref>{{Rp|p=31}}

Along with these, Das translated the writings of many prominent writers including [[Ashapurna Devi]], [[Albert Schweitzer]], [[Francois Mauriac]], [[Verrier Elwin]], [[Karl Adolph Gjellerup]], [[Antoine de Saint-Exupéry]], [[Mahatma Gandhi]], [[Kahlil Gibran]], [[Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan]], [[Boris Pasternak]], and [[Martin Luther King]] into Odia.<ref name="OdishaPlus"/><ref>{{cite book
| last = Sherry Simon and Paul St-Pierre
| author-link =
| title = Changing the Terms, Translating in the Postcolonial Era
| publisher = University of Ottawa Press
| series =
| volume =
| edition =
| date = November 2000
| location =
| pages = 272
| language =
| url = https://press.uottawa.ca/book/changing-the-terms
| isbn = 978-0-7766-0524-1
| jfm =}}</ref>{{Rp|p=78}}

==Awards and honors==
* Central Literary Academy Award, 1998 (for ''Bishwuku Gabaksha'')<ref name="OdishaPlus"/><ref name="TirukkuralTrans"/><ref>{{cite web | url = https://sahitya-akademi.gov.in/awards/akademi%20samman_suchi.jsp#ODIA | title = Akademi Awards (1955–2023) | last = | first = | date = | website = SahityaAkademi.gov | publisher = Sahitya Akademi | access-date = 29 December 2023 }}</ref>
* Odisha Sahitya Academy Award, 1962 (for ''Jeevana Bidyalaya'')<ref name="OdishaPlus"/><ref>{{cite web | url = http://odishasahityaakademi.org/English/sahitya-award.php | title = ଓଡ଼ିଶା ସାହିତ୍ୟ ଏକାଡେମୀ ପୁରସ୍କୃତ ପୁସ୍ତକ ଓ ଲେଖକ [Odisha Sahitya Akademi Awarded Books and Authors] | last = | first = | date = | website = OdishaSahityaAkademi.org | publisher = Odisha Sahitya Akademi | access-date = 29 December 2023 }}</ref>
* Sarala Award, 1989 (for ''Odisha O' Odia'')<ref name="OdishaPlus"/><ref name="TirukkuralTrans"/><ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.imfa.in/csr/saralaaward.htm |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111108033046/http://www.imfa.in/csr/saralaaward.htm | title = ଓଡ଼ିଶା ସାହିତ୍ୟ ଏକାଡେମୀ ପୁରସ୍କୃତ ପୁସ୍ତକ ଓ ଲେଖକ [List of Sarala Award Winners] | archive-date = 8 November 2011 | last = | first = | date = | website = Imfa.in | publisher = | access-date = 3 October 2011 }}</ref>
* Bishub Award, 1998 (awarded by Prajatantra Prachar Samiti)<ref name="OdishaPlus"/><ref>{{cite web | url = https://theprajatantra.org/Award%20Winner.pdf | title = ବିଷୁବ ପୁରସ୍କାର ବିଜେତା [World Prize Winners] | last = | first = | date = | website = The Prajatantra | publisher = Prajatantra Prachar Samiti | access-date = 13 June 2021 }}</ref>
* Sahitya Bharti Honour, 2000 (awarded by Sri Gangadhar Rath Foundation)<ref name="OdishaPlus"/>
* Utkal Gem Award, 2002 (awarded by the Utkal Sahitya Samaj)<ref name="OdishaPlus"/>
* Gokarnika Award<ref name="OdishaPlus"/>

==Death==
On 20 December 2010, Das was hospitalized for nearly a month with a fractured thigh after a fall at his Bapuji Nagar residence in Bhubaneswar. Das died in the afternoon of 16 January 2011 at the age of 88 at a private hospital in [[Bhubaneswar]] due to protracted illness due to old age.<ref name="IE_NoMore">{{cite news
| last =
| first =
| title = Renowned thinker-critic Chittaranjan Das no more
| newspaper = The New Indian Express
| location = Bhubaneswar
| pages =
| language =
| publisher = Express Group
| date = 17 January 2011
| url = https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/odisha/2011/jan/17/renowned-thinker-critic-chittaranjan-das-no-more-219911.html
| access-date = 30 December 2023}}</ref><ref name="TOI_PassesAway">{{cite news
| last =
| first =
| title = Chittaranjan Das passes away
| newspaper = The Times of India
| location = Bhubaneswar
| pages =
| language =
| publisher = The Times Group
| date = 17 January 2011
| url = https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bhubaneswar/chittaranjan-das-passes-away/articleshow/7300320.cms
| access-date = 30 December 2023}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Odia literature]]
* [[List of translators]]
* [[Tirukkural translations into Odia]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Tirukkural}}
{{Odia language}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Das, Chittaranjan}}
[[Category:Tamil–Odia translators]]
[[Category:Translators of the Tirukkural into Odia]]
[[Category:1923 births]]
[[Category:2011 deaths]]
[[Category:Tirukkural translators]]
[[Category:Indian writers]]
[[Category:Odia-language writers]]
[[Category:People from Odisha]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Odia]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Odisha Sahitya Akademi Award]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian male writers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian translators]]

Chittaranjan Das (writer) - Revision history

JamesTex: Made A Post