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{{Short description|Indian literature academic (1903–1998)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2023}}
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2018}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Subodh Chandra Sengupta
| image =
| imagesize =
| caption =
| birth_date = 27 June 1903
| birth_place = Banari, [[Dhaka]] [[Bikrampur]], [[Bengal Presidency|Bengal Province]], [[British India]]
| death_date = 3 December 1998
| death_place = [[Kolkata]] [[West Bengal]], India
| restingplace =
| restingplacecoordinates =
| othername =
| occupation = Academic<br>Scholar<br>Writer
| yearsactive = 1929–1998
| known for = Shakesperean literature
| spouse =
| domesticpartner =
| children =
| father = Hemchandra Sengupta
| mother = Mrinalini Debi
| website =
| signature =
| awards = [[Padma Bhushan]]
}}
'''Subodh Chandra Sengupta''' (27 June 1903 – 3 December 1998) was an Indian scholar, academic and critic of English literature,<ref name="Shyam Prasad – A Hindutva British Stooge">{{cite journal | url=http://www.bannedthought.net/India/PeoplesMarch/PM1999-2006/archives/2000/nov2k/shyam.htm | title=Shyam Prasad – A Hindutva British Stooge | author=Somesh | journal=People's March | date=November 2000 | volume=1 | issue=9}}</ref> known for his scholarship on [[Shakespearean]] works.<ref name="Pedagogy: the academic Shakespeare">{{cite web | url=http://internetshakespeare.uvic.ca/Library/Criticism/shakespearein/india3.html | title=Pedagogy: the academic Shakespeare | publisher=Internet Shakespeare Editions | date=2016 | access-date=22 July 2016}}</ref> His books on [[William Shakespeare]], which included ''Aspects of Shakespearian Tragedy'',<ref name="Aspects of Shakespearian Tragedy">{{cite book | title=Aspects of Shakespearian Tragedy | publisher=Oxford University Press | author=S. C. Sengupta | year=1972 | pages=176 | isbn=9780195602920|oclc = 832557}}</ref> ''Shakespearian Comedy''<ref name="Shakespearian Comedy">{{cite book | title=Shakespearian Comedy | publisher=Oxford University Press | author=S. C. Sengupta | year=1950 | pages=287 | oclc=6476690}}</ref> and ''Shakespeare's Historical Plays''<ref name="SenGupta1966">{{cite book|author=Subodh Chandra SenGupta|title=Shakespeare's Historical Plays|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uOSqnQEACAAJ|year=1966|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780198116219}}</ref> are critically acclaimed for scholarship and academic rigor.<ref name="Gupta2003">{{cite book|author=Subodh Chandra Sen Gupta|title=Portraits and memories|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hECdAAAAMAAJ|date=1 January 2003|publisher=Thema|isbn=978-81-86017-40-1}}</ref> He was a professor in the Department of English Language and Literature at Presidency College (now Presidency University), Calcutta, and after retirement from Presidency College, became Professor of English Language and Literature at [[Jadavpur University, Calcutta]],<ref name="Department of Bengali Language & Literature">{{cite web | url=http://www.caluniv.ac.in/academic/arts_bengali.html | title=Department of English Language & Literature | publisher=Jadavpur University, Calcutta | date=2016 | access-date=22 July 2016}}</ref> as well as a professor of English literature at [[Ramakrishna Mission Residential College]], Narendrapur, an autonomous college in Greater Calcutta under the University of Calcutta.<ref name="English">{{cite web | url=http://www.rkmcnarendrapur.org/60-Under%20Graduate%20English | title=English | publisher=Ramakrishna Mission Residential College | date=2016 | access-date=22 July 2016}}</ref> The Government of India awarded him the third highest civilian honour of the [[Padma Bhushan]], in 1983, for his contributions to literature and education.<ref name="Padma Awards">{{cite web | url=http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf | title=Padma Awards | publisher=Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India | date=2016 | access-date=3 January 2016 | archive-date=19 October 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019215108/http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf | url-status=dead }}</ref>

== Biography ==
Subodh Chandra Sengupta was born in 1903 in Banari in [[Dhaka]] [[Bikrampur]], in the Bengal Province of [[British India]] (present-day [[Bangladesh]])<ref name="Lal1992">{{cite book|author=Mohan Lal|title=Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: Sasay to Zorgot|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KnPoYxrRfc0C&pg=PA3921|year=1992|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|isbn=978-81-260-1221-3|pages=3921–}}</ref> and after passing Entrance from Banari high school in Bikrampur he did his college studies at [[Presidency College, Calcutta]] during 1924-26 where he had the opportunity to learn under such academics as [[Harendra Coomar Mookerjee]], [[Prafulla Chandra Ghosh]] and [[Srikumar Banerjee]].<ref name="The Coming on its Own">{{cite web | url=http://www.uvm.edu/~sgutman/Calcutta_University.html | title=The Coming on its Own | publisher=University of Vermont | date=2016 | access-date=22 July 2016}}</ref> After securing his MA in 1927, he continued his doctoral studies with ''Premchand Roychand scholarship'' during which time he started his career as a faculty member at the [[Presidency College, Calcutta]]. He served the institution from 1929 till 1960, barring two interludes from 1933 to 1935 and from 1942 to 1946.<ref name="Dahiya2014">{{cite book|author=Hema Dahiya|title=Shakespeare Studies in Colonial Bengal: The Early Phase|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hiBJDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA181|date=3 July 2014|publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing|isbn=978-1-4438-6353-7|pages=181–}}</ref> In between, he secured his PhD in 1934 and also taught at [[Ramakrishna Mission Residential College]] for a while.<ref name="English" />

Sengupta published five books on Shakespeare, ''The whirlgig of Time: The problem of Duration in Shakespeare's Plays'' (1961),<ref name="The whirlgig of Time: The problem of Duration in Shakespeare's Plays">{{cite book | title=The whirlgig of Time: The problem of Duration in Shakespeare's Plays | publisher=Orient Longmans | author=S. C. Sengupta | year=1961 | pages=201 | oclc=1940902}}</ref> ''A Shakespeare Manual'' (1977),<ref name="A Shakespeare Manual">{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/shakespearemanua0000seng/page/157 | title=A Shakespeare Manual | publisher=Oxford University Press | author=S. C. Sengupta | year=1977 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/shakespearemanua0000seng/page/157 157] | isbn=9780195609530 }}</ref> ''Aspects of Shakespearian Tragedy'' (1972), ''Shakespearean Comedy (1950)'', and ''Shakespeare's Historical Plays'' (1964), which are known to be reference texts on the English playwright. He also wrote on other literary figures such as [[George Bernard Shaw]] (''The Art of Bernard Shaw''<ref name="Gupta1936">{{cite book|author=Subodh Chandra Sen Gupta|title=The art of Bernard Shaw|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oTofAQAAIAAJ|year=1936|publisher=Folcroft Library Editions|isbn=9780841444393}}</ref>), [[Rabindranath Tagore]] (''The Great Sentinel: A Study of Rabindranath Tagore''<ref name="The Great Sentinel: A Study of Rabindranath Tagore">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-l0FngEACAAJ | title=The Great Sentinel: A Study of Rabindranath Tagore | publisher=Mukherjee | date=1948 | author=S. C. Sengupta}}</ref>), [[Saratchandra Chatterjee]] (''Saratchandra: Man and Artist''<ref name="Gupta1975">{{cite book|author=Subodh Chandra Sen Gupta|title=Saratchandra: Man and Artist|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qr0JAQAAIAAJ|year=1975|publisher=Sahitya Akademi}}</ref>) and [[Bankimchandra Chatterjee]] (''Bankimchandra Chatterjee''<ref name="Sengupta1996">{{cite book|author=Subodhchandra Sengupta|title=Bankimchandra Chatterjee|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=284t0sm6CNQC|date=1 January 1996|publisher=Sahitya Akademi Publications|isbn=978-81-260-0001-2}}</ref>). His other major works included two original books, ''Towards a Theory of Imagination'', a philosophical treatise,<ref name="Towards a Theory of Imagination">{{cite book | url=https://www.amazon.com/Towards-theory-imagination-Sen-Gupta/dp/B0007J1C6U | title=Towards a Theory of Imagination | publisher=Oxford University Press | author=S. C. Sengupta | year=1959 | pages=315 | asin=B0007J1C6U}}</ref> ''India Wrests Freedom'', a historical interpretation of [[Indian freedom movement]],<ref name="Gupta1982">{{cite book|author=Subodh Chandra Sen Gupta|title=India wrests freedom|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y8q1AAAAIAAJ|year=1982|publisher=Sahitya Samsad}}</ref>
and two translations, ''Dhvanyaloka'', a commentary on aesthetics by [[Anandavardhana]] translated into Bengali by Sengupta,<ref name="Ghosh2008">{{cite book|author=Raghunath Ghosh|title=Humanity, Truth, and Freedom: Essays in Modern Indian Philosophy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YMlyid2aksEC&pg=PA159|date=1 January 2008|publisher=Northern Book Centre|isbn=978-81-7211-233-2|pages=159–}}</ref>
and ''Mahatma Gandhi, As I Saw Him'', a critical account of the life of [[Mohandas KaramChand Gandhi]] written by [[Prafulla Chandra Ghosh]] and translated by Sengupta.<ref name="Ghosh1968">{{cite book|author=Prafulla Chandra Ghosh|title=Mahatma Gandhi: As I Saw Him|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iOigzrTDLTQC|year=1968|publisher=S. Chand & Company}}</ref> He also assisted in the publication of a dictionary, ''Samsad Bengali-English Dictionary''<ref name="Samsad Bengali-English dictionary">{{cite book | title=Samsad Bengali-English dictionary | publisher=Calcutta Sahitya Samsad |author1=Sailendra Biswas |author2=Birendramohan Dasgupta |author3=S C Sen Gupta | year=1982 | pages=932 | oclc=9418239}}</ref> and edited the annual publications of Presidency College Alumni Association.<ref name="List of Annual Publications">{{cite web | url=http://presidencyalumni.com/home/publication2 | title=List of Annual Publications | publisher=Presidency College Alumni Association | date=2016 | access-date=23 July 2016}}</ref>

Sengupta, who was honored by the Government of India with the civilian award of the [[Padma Bhushan]] in 1983,<ref name="Padma Awards" /> died in 1998, at the age of 95.<ref name="Sen Gupta, S. C. (Subodh Chandra) 1903-1998">{{cite web | url=http://www.worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n50-9780/ | title=Sen Gupta, S. C. (Subodh Chandra) 1903-1998 | publisher=WorldCat | date=2016 | access-date=23 July 2016}}</ref> Several writers have recorded their indebtedness to Sengupta in their works.<ref name="Ray2001">{{cite book|author=Mohit K. Ray|title=Studies in Literary Criticism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QRZ9cKUyyy0C&pg=PR3|date=1 January 2001|publisher=Atlantic Publishers & Dist|isbn=978-81-269-0002-2|pages=3–}}</ref><ref name="Basu2010">{{cite book|author=Kanailal Basu|title=Netaji: Rediscovered|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b9bQyfKq_EMC&pg=PR9|date=19 January 2010|publisher=AuthorHouse|isbn=978-1-4490-5569-1|pages=9–}}</ref> The story of his life has been documented in a work, ''Professor Subodh Chandra Sen Gupta: Scholar Extraordinary'',<ref name="GuptaGupta2000">{{cite book|author1=Sen Gupta Sen Gupta|author2=Subodh Chandra Sen Gupta|title=Professor Subodh Chandra Sen Gupta: Scholar Extraordinary|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tsVjAAAAMAAJ|year=2000|publisher=Subodh Chandra Sengupta Foundation}}</ref> published by the foundation bearing his name.<ref name="Subodh Chandra Sengupta Foundation">{{cite web | url=https://openlibrary.org/publishers/Subodh_Chandra_Sengupta_Foundation | title=Subodh Chandra Sengupta Foundation | publisher=Open Library | date=2016 | access-date=23 July 2016}}</ref>

== Selected bibliography ==
* {{cite book|author=Subodh Chandra Sen Gupta|title=The art of Bernard Shaw|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oTofAQAAIAAJ|year=1936|publisher=Folcroft Library Editions|isbn=9780841444393}}
* {{cite book|author=Subodhchandra Sengupta|title=Bankimchandra Chatterjee|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=284t0sm6CNQC|date=1 January 1996|publisher=Sahitya Akademi Publications|isbn=978-81-260-0001-2}}
* {{cite book|author=Subodh Chandra Sen Gupta|title=Saratchandra: Man and Artist|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qr0JAQAAIAAJ|year=1975|publisher=Sahitya Akademi}}
* {{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-l0FngEACAAJ | title=The Great Sentinel: A Study of Rabindranath Tagore | publisher=Mukherjee | date=1948 | author=S. C. Sengupta}}
* {{cite book | title=Shakespearian Comedy | publisher=Oxford University Press | author=S. C. Sengupta | year=1950 | pages=287 | oclc=6476690}}
* {{cite book | url=https://www.amazon.com/Towards-theory-imagination-Sen-Gupta/dp/B0007J1C6U | title=Towards a Theory of Imagination | publisher=Oxford University Press | author=S. C. Sengupta | year=1959 | pages=315 | asin=B0007J1C6U}}
* {{cite book | title=The whirlgig of Time: The problem of Duration in Shakespeare's Plays | publisher=Orient Longmans | author=S. C. Sengupta | year=1961 | pages=201 | oclc=1940902}}
* {{cite book|author=Subodh Chandra SenGupta|title=Shakespeare's Historical Plays|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uOSqnQEACAAJ|year=1966|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780198116219}}
* {{cite book|author=Prafulla Chandra Ghosh|translator=S. C. Sengupta |title=Mahatma Gandhi: As I Saw Him|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iOigzrTDLTQC|year=1968|publisher=S. Chand & Company}}
* {{cite book | title=Aspects of Shakespearian Tragedy | publisher=Oxford University Press | author=S. C. Sengupta | year=1972 | pages=176 | isbn=9780195602920|oclc = 832557}}
* {{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/shakespearemanua0000seng/page/157 | title=A Shakespeare Manual | publisher=Oxford University Press | author=S. C. Sengupta | year=1977 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/shakespearemanua0000seng/page/157 157] | isbn=9780195609530 }}
* {{cite book|author=Subodh Chandra Sen Gupta|title=India wrests freedom|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y8q1AAAAIAAJ|year=1982|publisher=Sahitya Samsad}}
* {{cite book | title=Samsad Bengali-English dictionary | publisher=Calcutta Sahitya Samsad |author1=Sailendra Biswas |author2=Birendramohan Dasgupta |author3=S C Sen Gupta | year=1982 | pages=932 | oclc=9418239}}

== See also ==

{{Div col}}
* [[Bankimchandra Chatterjee]]
* [[Saratchandra Chatterjee]]
* [[Prafulla Chandra Ghosh]]
* [[George Bernard Shaw]]
* [[Rabindranath Tagore]]
{{div col end}}
{{portal|India|Literature|Education}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{cite web | url=http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n50009780 | title=Sen Gupta, S. C. (Subodh Chandra), 1903-1998 | publisher=Library of Congress | work=Library of Congress Name Authority File | date=2016 | access-date=23 July 2016}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book|author1=Sen Gupta Sen Gupta|author2=Subodh Chandra Sen Gupta|title=Professor Subodh Chandra Sen Gupta: Scholar Extraordinary|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tsVjAAAAMAAJ|year=2000|publisher=Subodh Chandra Sengupta Foundation}}

{|
|{{Authority control}}
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{{PadmaBhushanAwardRecipients 1980–89}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sengupta, Subodh Chandra}}
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in literature & education]]
[[Category:1903 births]]
[[Category:1998 deaths]]
[[Category:Writers from Dhaka]]
[[Category:Academic staff of Presidency University, Kolkata]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:Indian literary critics]]
[[Category:Scholars from West Bengal]]
[[Category:West Bengal academics]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian translators]]
[[Category:Indian academics]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian scholars]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian male writers]]
[[Category:University of Calcutta alumni]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the University of Calcutta]]
[[Category:Shakespearean scholars]]
[[Category:Academic staff of Chittagong College]]
[[Category:Academic staff of Jadavpur University]]
[[Category:Bengali Hindus]]
[[Category:20th-century Bengali people]]
[[Category:People from West Bengal]]

Subodh Chandra Sengupta - Revision history

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