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{{Short description|Indian writer and academic (1938–2019)}}
{{Use Indian English|date=November 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}
{{Infobox writer
|name = Nabaneeta Dev Sen
|image = Nabaneeta Dev Sen.jpg
|alt = An Indian woman, smiling
|birth_date = {{birth date|1938|1|13|df=y}}
|birth_place = [[Calcutta]], [[British Raj|British India]]
|death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2019|11|7|1938|1|13}}
|death_place = [[Kolkata]], India
|occupation = Novelist, children's author, poet, academic
|spouse = {{marriage|[[Amartya Sen]]|1958|1976|end=div}}
|children = [[Antara Dev Sen|Antara]] and [[Nandana Sen|Nandana]]
|awards = {{ubl|[[Padmashri|Padma Shri]] (2000)|[[Sahitya Akademi Award]] (1999)|[[Kamal Kumari National Award]] (2004)}}
|education = [[University of Calcutta]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])<br>[[Jadavpur University]] ([[Master of Arts|MA]])<br>[[Harvard University]] ([[Master of Arts|MA]])<br>[[Indiana University Bloomington]] ([[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]])
}}
'''Nabaneeta Dev Sen''' (Nôbonita Deb Sen; 13 January 1938 – 7 November 2019) was an Indian writer and academic. After studying arts and comparative literature, she moved to the United States where she studied further. She returned to India and taught at several universities and institutes as well as serving in various positions in literary institutes. She published more than 80 books in Bengali: poetry, novels, short stories, plays, literary criticism, personal essays, travelogues, humour writing, translations and children's literature. She was awarded the [[Padma Shri]] in 2000 and the [[Sahitya Akademi Award]] in 1999.

==Early life and education==
Dev Sen was born in [[Kolkata|Calcutta]] (now Kolkata) into a [[Bengali people|Bengali]] family on 13 January 1938. She was the only child of the poet-couple Narendra Dev ([[Narendra Deb]] 1888–1971, son of Nagendra Chandra Deb) and [[Radharani Devi]] (1903–1989), who wrote under the pen name Aparajita Devi.<ref name="loc">{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/acq/ovop/delhi/salrp/nabaneetadevsen.html|title=Nabaneeta Nabaneeta Dev Sen – Bengali Writer: The South Asian Literary Recordings Project (Library of Congress New Delhi Office)|date=13 January 1938|publisher=Loc.gov|access-date=18 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121026140647/http://www.loc.gov/acq/ovop/delhi/salrp/nabaneetadevsen.html|archive-date=26 October 2012|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="PB">{{cite web|url=http://www.parabaas.com/translation/database/authors/texts/nabaneetadevsen.html|title=Nabaneeta Nabaneeta Dev Sen – Biographical Sketch [Parabaas Translation]|author=Parabaas Inc.|publisher=Parabaas.com|access-date=18 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120829052326/http://www.parabaas.com/translation/database/authors/texts/nabaneetadevsen.html|archive-date=29 August 2012|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="blackbird.vcu.edu">{{cite journal|title=Nabaneeta Dev Sen |journal=Blackbird |url=http://www.blackbird.vcu.edu/v8n2/poetry/sen_n/index.shtml|access-date=2 April 2011|date=Fall 2009 |volume=8 |issue=22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606205534/http://www.blackbird.vcu.edu/v8n2/poetry/sen_n/index.shtml|archive-date=6 June 2011|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Bumiller">{{cite book |last1=Bumiller |first1=Elisabeth |title=May You be the Mother of a Hundred Sons: A Journey Among the Women of India |date=1991 |publisher=Penguin Books India |isbn=9780140156713 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/mayyoubemotherof00bumi/page/n245 218]–227 |url=https://archive.org/details/mayyoubemotherof00bumi |url-access=registration |quote=Nabaneeta Dev Sen. |access-date=9 November 2019}}</ref> She was given her name by [[Rabindranath Tagore]].<ref name="Tharu1993" /><ref name="Alexander"/>

Her childhood experiences included [[World War II]] air raids, seeing people starving in the [[Bengal famine of 1943]], and the impact of large numbers of refugees arriving in Calcutta after the [[partition of India]].<ref name="Panth">{{cite news |last1=Panth |first1=Sirshendu |title=Tribute to Nabaneeta: 'A voice that spoke of the dilemma of Bengal's so-called intellectuals' |url=https://www.indulgexpress.com/culture/books/2019/nov/08/tribute-to-nabaneeta-a-voice-that-spoke-of-the-dilemma-of-bengals-so-called-intellectuals-19659.html |access-date=9 November 2019 |work=The New Indian Express Indulge |date=8 November 2019}}</ref> She attended Gokhale Memorial Girls' School and [[Presidency College, Kolkata]].<ref name="Panth"/>

She received her BA in English from [[Presidency College]],<ref name="News Nation">{{cite news |title=Nabaneeta Dev Sen, Padma Shri Award Winning Poet, Dies In Kolkata |url=https://www.newsnation.in/cities/kolkata/nabanita-deb-sen-padmashree-award-winning-poet-dies-in-kolkata-243412.html |access-date=9 November 2019 |work=News Nation |date=7 November 2019}}</ref><ref name="Tharu1993"/> and was a student of inaugural batch of the Department of Comparative Literature at [[Jadavpur University]], from where she obtained her MA in 1958.<ref name="blackbird.vcu.edu" /> She obtained another MA (with distinction) in comparative literature from [[Harvard University]] in 1961 and went on to receive a doctorate from [[Indiana University Bloomington]] in 1964.<ref name="blackbird.vcu.edu"/> She then completed her post-doctoral research at the [[University of California at Berkeley]] and [[Newnham College, Cambridge]].<ref name="Tharu1993" /><ref name=":0" />

==Career==
===Academic===
Dev Sen was a writer in residence at several international artists' colonies, including [[Yaddo]] and [[MacDowell Colony]] in the United States; Bellaggio in Italy; and the [[Mishkenot Sha'ananim]] in Jerusalem.<ref name="Māthura">{{cite book |last1=Māthura |first1=Divyā |title=Aashaa: Hope/faith/trust : Short Stories by Indian Women Writers Translated from Hindi and Other Indian Languages |date=2003 |publisher=Star Publications, for Indian Book Shelf, London, England |location=New Delhi |isbn=9788176500753 |page=170 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gQSwvro50oUC&q=%22Nabaneeta+Dev+Sen%22+Yaddo&pg=PA170 |access-date=9 November 2019}}</ref>

She held the Maytag Chair of Creative Writing and Comparative Literature at Colorado College, 1988–1989.<ref name="Māthura"/> She was a visiting professor and a visiting creative writer at several universities including Harvard, Cornell, Columbia, Chicago (USA), Humboldt (Germany), Universities of Toronto, British Columbia (Canada), Melbourne, New South Wales (Australia), and El Collegio de Mexico.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Māthura"/> She delivered the Radhakrishnan Memorial Lecture series (1996–1997) at [[Oxford University]] on epic poetry.<ref name=":0" />

In 2002, Dev Sen retired as Professor of Comparative Literature at [[Jadavpur University]], Calcutta.<ref name="PB"/>

She was a [[University Grants Commission (India)|University Grants Commission]] Senior Fellow at [[University of Delhi]].<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=http://www.sawnet.org/books/authors.php?Sen+Nabaneeta+Dev|title=Nabaneeta Nabaneeta Dev Sen Bookshelf|work=The South Asian Women's NETwork|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160406093353/http://sawnet.org/books/authors.php?Sen+Nabaneeta+Dev|archive-date=6 April 2016|access-date=2 April 2011}}</ref> From 2003 to 2005, Dev Sen was the J. P. Naik Distinguished Fellow at the Centre of Women's Development Studies in New Delhi.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DDxFDwAAQBAJ&q=%22Naik+Distinguished+Fellow%22+%22Nabaneeta+Dev+Sen%22&pg=PA194|title=Janani: Mothers, Daughters, Motherhood|last=Bhattacharya|first=Rinki|date=7 November 2006|publisher=SAGE Publishing India|isbn=9789352805198|language=en}}</ref>

She represented herself and India in many international conferences, both academic and literary,<ref name="Māthura"/> and at the Festival of India USA in 1986.<ref name="Bumiller"/>

Dev Sen was a member of the [[Social Network for Assistance to People]] (informally Association SNAP) that published a ground-breaking survey in 2014 that revealed the extent of poverty among the Muslim community of [[West Bengal]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Muslims lack opportunity in India's West Bengal |url=https://www.aa.com.tr/en/archive/muslims-lack-opportunity-in-indias-west-bengal/153717 |access-date=2024-05-24 |website=www.aa.com.tr}}</ref>

===Associations===
She held executive positions in the International Comparative Literature Association (1973–1979),<ref name="Māthura"/> and the International Association of Semiotic and Structural Studies (1989–1994).<ref name="Māthura"/> Dev Sen was the vice-president of the [[Bangiya Sahitya Parishad]], an academy for Bengali literature. She was the founder and president of West Bengal Women Writers' Association.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://thewire.in/books/nabaneeta-dev-sen|title=Writer and Padma Shri Awardee Nabaneeta Dev Sen Passes Away|website=The Wire|access-date=10 November 2019}}</ref> She was the founder secretary and later vice-president of the Indian National Comparative Literature Association.<ref name="loc" /><ref name=":0" /><ref name="Māthura"/> She was a Fellow of the [[Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland|Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Māthura"/> She was a member of the advisory board for Bengali, Sahitya Akademi from 1978 to 1982, as well as the Member and Convenor, Bharatiya [[Jnanpith Award]] Language Advisory Committee from 1975 to 1990.<ref name="loc" /><ref name="Tharu1993"/>

She also served as Member of the Jury of important literary awards including the [[Jnanpith Award]], [[Saraswati Samman]], Kabir Samman, and [[Rabindra Puraskar]].{{Citation needed|date=November 2019}}

===Literary career===
Dev Sen published more than 80 books in Bengali: poetry, novels, short stories, plays, literary criticism, personal essays, travelogues, humour writing, translations and children's literature.<ref name="Tharu1993">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OjZYf9Xf9bcC&pg=PA447|title=Women Writing in India: The Twentieth Century, Volume 2|last1=Tharu|first1=Susie J.|last2=Lalita|first2=K|publisher=Feminist Press at City University of New York|year=1993|isbn=978-1-55861-029-3|series=Women Writing in India: 600 B.C. to the Present|volume=2|pages=447–448}}</ref><ref name="PB" /><ref name="loc" /> She worked with the treatment of women in world epics; she wrote several short stories presenting [[Sita]] in a different way from how she appears in the [[Ramayana]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Geetha |first1=N. |editor1-last=Rollason |editor1-first=Christopher |editor2-last=Mittapalli |editor2-first=Rajeshwar |title=Modern Criticism |date=2002 |publisher=Atlantic Publishers & Dist |location=New Delhi, India |isbn=9788126901876 |page=253 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g6FY34yQvZgC&q=%22Nabaneeta+Dev+Sen%22+%22fairy+tales%22&pg=PA253 |chapter=Feminist Deconstruction and Reconstruction of Male Myths and Fairy Tales via Intertextuality}}</ref>

Her first collection of poems ''Pratham Pratyay'' (First Confidence) was published in 1959.<ref name="Tharu1993" /><ref name="PB" /><ref name="loc" /> Her second poetry collection ''Swagato Debdoot'' was published 12 years later.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/True-feminism-does-not-mean-raising-slogans/articleshow/37758546.cms|title=True feminism does not mean raising slogans|date=15 April 2001|website=The Times of India|access-date=8 November 2019}}</ref>

Her first novel ''Ami Anupam'' (I, Anupam) was published in 1976 in the Puja Issue of the ''[[Anandabazar Patrika|Ananda Bazar Patrika]]''.<ref name="PB" /> It is about urban middle class intellectuals who lead the youth in revolution and later contradict them during the [[Naxalite]] movement.<ref name="Tharu1993" />

Dev Sen dealt with a wide variety of social, political, psychological problems like the role of the intellectuals in the [[Naxalite]] movement (''Ami Anupam'', 1976),<ref name="Tharu1993"/> the identity crisis of Indian writing in English (1977),<ref name="Tharu1993"/> that of second generation [[non-resident Indian]]s (1985), breakdown of the joint family, life in old age homes (1988),<ref name="Tharu1993"/> homosexuality (1995),<ref name="Panth"/> facing AIDS (1999, 2002),<ref name="Panth"/> [[child abuse]], obsession, and uprootedness.<ref name="Panth"/>

Her first short story collection was ''Monsieur Hulor Holiday'' (Monsieur Hulo's Holiday, 1980).<ref name="Tharu1993"/> Her essays, such as ''Nati Nabanita'' (Nabaneeta the Actress, 1983), are considered the best of her prose writing by critic Sanjukta Gupta.<ref name="Tharu1993" />

Her best-selling ''Karuna Tomar Kon Path Diye'' (The Path of Thy Grace, 1978) has an account of a solo woman on pilgrimage to [[Kumbh Mela]].<ref name="Tharu1993" /> Her travelogue ''Truck Bahoney Mac Mahoney'' depicts her ride on a ration truck across [[northeast India]] and [[Tibet]] in 1977.<ref name="Tharu1993" /> Her other notable works included ''Bama-bodhini'',<ref name="Alexander"/> ''Srestha kabita'', and ''Sita theke suru''.<ref name="loc" />

She was a well-known children's author in Bengali for her fairy tales and adventure stories, with girls as protagonist,<ref>{{cite news |title=I try to make my fairy tales positive: Nabanita Deb Sen |url=https://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/i-try-to-make-my-fairy-tales-positive-nabanita-deb-sen-118011100808_1.html |access-date=10 November 2019 |work=Business Standard |agency=IANS |date=11 January 2018}}</ref> having first written for children in 1979.<ref name="Sarma"/>

She was the chief editor of Bengali in the Macmillan's ''Modern Indian Novels in English Translation'' series.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JQ7GmfyH6K8C&q=%22Macmillan%22+%22Nabaneeta+Dev+Sen%22&pg=PA112|title=Contemporary Indian Writing in English: Critical Perceptions|last=Chandra|first=N. D. R.|date=2005|publisher=Sarup & Sons|isbn=9788176254816|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Kamala|first=N.|chapter=Gateway of India: Representing the Nation in English Translation|date=2000|chapter-url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1ckpcz7.16|title=Changing the Terms: Translating in the Postcolonial Era|pages=252|editor-last=Simon|editor-first=Sherry|series=Perspectives on Translation|publisher=University of Ottawa Press|access-date=10 November 2019|editor2-last=St-Pierre|editor2-first=Paul|doi=10.2307/j.ctt1ckpcz7.16|jstor=j.ctt1ckpcz7.16}}</ref>

==Recognition==
Dev Sen received many national and international awards and honours, including: Gouridevi Memorial Award, Mahadevi Verma Award (1992),<ref name="Alexander">{{cite book |editor1-last=Alexander |editor1-first=Meena |title=Name Me a Word: Indian Writers Reflect on Writing |date=2018 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=9780300222586 |pages=238–239 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Un1jDwAAQBAJ&q=%22Nabaneeta+Dev+Sen%22&pg=PA238 |access-date=9 November 2019}}</ref> Celli Award from [[Rockefeller Foundation]] (1993), Sarat Award from [[Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur University|Bhagalpur University]] of Bihar (1994), Prasad Puraskar, [[Sahitya Akademi Award]] (1999).<ref name=loc/> She has also received Rabindra Puraskar, Kabir Samman, Samskriti Award,<ref name=":0" /> [[Kamal Kumari National Award]] (2004),<ref name="Kamal Kumari National Awards Presented">{{cite web|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-1014170351.html|title=Kamal Kumari National Awards Presented|date=2 April 2006|location=Guwahati|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102083112/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-1014170351.html|archive-date=2 November 2012}}</ref> Mystic Kalinga Literary Award (2017),<ref name="Mystic Kalinga Literary Awards to Nabaneeta Sen">{{cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/books/features/arundhathi-subramaniam-nabaneeta-sen-soubhagya-mishra-honoured-with-first-mystic-kalinga-literary-awards/articleshow/62219009.cms|title=Arundhathi Subramaniam, Nabaneeta Sen, Soubhagya Mishra honoured with first Mystic Kalinga Literary Awards|date=23 December 2017|publisher=Times of India|location=Bhubaneswar|access-date=31 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180524003758/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/books/features/arundhathi-subramaniam-nabaneeta-sen-soubhagya-mishra-honoured-with-first-mystic-kalinga-literary-awards/articleshow/62219009.cms|archive-date=24 May 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> and the Big Little Book Award for children's literature in 2017, when the award focused on Bengali writing.<ref name="Sarma">{{cite news |last1=Sarma |first1=Dibyajyoti |title=Our grandchildren refuse to read in their mother tongue |url=https://www.sakaltimes.com/art-culture/%E2%80%98our-grandchildren-refuse-read-their-mother-tongue%E2%80%99-9192 |access-date=9 November 2019 |work=Sakal Times |date=23 November 2017 |archive-date=8 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190908113413/http://www.sakaltimes.com/art-culture/%E2%80%98our-grandchildren-refuse-read-their-mother-tongue%E2%80%99-9192 |url-status=dead }}</ref> She was awarded the [[Padmashri|Padma Shri]] (2000), the fourth highest civilian award by the Government of India.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sensonmedia.net/information/padmashri_awards_west_bengal.htm |title=Padma Shri Awards from West Bengal |publisher=Sensonmedia.net |access-date=18 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120823213833/http://www.sensonmedia.net/information/padmashri_awards_west_bengal.htm |archive-date=23 August 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Personal life and death==
[[File:Nabaneeta Dev Sen and Antara Dev Sen - Kolkata 2013-02-03 4334.JPG|thumb|Nabaneeta Dev Sen with her daughter Antara (right) in 2013 in Kolkata]]
In 1958, she married [[Amartya Sen]], an economist and academician and then a lecturer of economics at the Jadavpur University, who would be awarded the [[Nobel Prize]] four decades later.<ref name="PB" /><ref name="blackbird.vcu.edu" /><ref name="News Nation"/>

She moved to Britain with Sen<ref name="Tharu1993" /> and they became the parents of two daughters, [[Antara Dev Sen]] and [[Nandana Sen]].<ref name="PB" /><ref name="News Nation"/>

After her divorce in 1976, she returned to Calcutta with her daughters. She had one adopted daughter [[Srabasti Basu]].<ref name="PB" /><ref name="Tharu1993" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/old-writers-learn-new-tricks/articleshow/59496997.cms|title=Old writers learn new tricks|last=Mukherjee|first=P Jhimli|date=8 July 2017|website=The Times of India|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170724191739/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/old-writers-learn-new-tricks/articleshow/59496997.cms|archive-date=24 July 2017|access-date=8 November 2019}}</ref>

Her hobbies included reading, records, and travelling.<ref name="PB" /> In addition to Bengali and English, she could read Hindi, Oriya, Assamese, French, German, Greek,<ref name="Bumiller"/> Sanskrit, and Hebrew.<ref name="IE9Nov2019">{{cite news |title=Nabaneeta Dev Sen's last journey: From JU to Bangla Academi |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/kolkata/nabaneeta-dev-sen-last-journey-from-ju-to-bangla-academi-6110977/ |access-date=9 November 2019 |work=The Indian Express |date=9 November 2019 |language=en-IN}}</ref>

She died on 7 November 2019 in Kolkata following cancer.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://scroll.in/latest/943004/poet-and-novelist-nabaneeta-dev-sen-dies-in-kolkata-at-81|title=Poet and novelist Nabaneeta Dev Sen dies in Kolkata at 81|work=Scroll.in|language=en-US|access-date=8 November 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/padamshree-awardee-writer-nabaneeta-dev-sen-passes-away/articleshow/71959875.cms|title=Padma Shri awardee writer Nabaneeta Dev Sen passes away|last=Chakraborty|first=Ajanta|date=7 November 2019|work=The Times of India|access-date=8 November 2019}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Bengali literature]]
* [[List of Bengali-language authors (alphabetical)]]
* [[Amartya Sen]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Commons category-inline}}

{{Clear}}
{{Sen family}}

{{Authority control}}

{{Padma Shri Award Recipients in Literature & Education}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dev Sen, Nabaneeta}}
[[Category:1938 births]]
[[Category:2019 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian poets]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian novelists]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian novelists]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian poets]]
[[Category:Amartya Sen]]
[[Category:Presidency University, Kolkata alumni]]
[[Category:University of Calcutta alumni]]
[[Category:Bengali writers]]
[[Category:Writers from Kolkata]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Bengali]]
[[Category:Jadavpur University alumni]]
[[Category:Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni]]
[[Category:Women writers from West Bengal]]
[[Category:Poets from West Bengal]]
[[Category:Novelists from West Bengal]]
[[Category:Indiana University Bloomington alumni]]
[[Category:Indian children's writers]]
[[Category:Indian short story writers]]
[[Category:Indian travel writers]]
[[Category:Indian humorists]]
[[Category:Indian women humorists]]
[[Category:Indian essayists]]
[[Category:Indian women essayists]]
[[Category:Indian literary critics]]
[[Category:Indian women literary critics]]
[[Category:Indian dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:Indian women dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:Indian translators]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women poets]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian women poets]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women novelists]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian women novelists]]

Nabaneeta Dev Sen - Revision history

Narayanacancercentre: Made some details with sources