Sharat
Chandra Chatterji, also known as Sarat Chandra
Chattopadhyay or Sharat Chandra Chatterjee
(15 September 1876 - 16 January 1938) was
an novelist from India. He was one of the
most popular Bengali novelists of early
part of the 20th century.
Background and writing
Swagato Ganguly (2005) and Sreejata Guha
(2002) both note that Sarat Chandra was
born into poverty in Debanandapur, Hooghly,
India. Though his family was occasionally
supported by other family members, Saratchandra's
lack of financial stability would influence
his writing in years to come. Although he
began as a fine arts student, Chatterji
left his studies due to his persistent state
of poverty. He got his early education residing
at his paternal uncle's (Pishemosai) house.
His
work represented rural Bengali society
and he often wrote against social superstitions
and oppression. For a short period, he
was a sannyasi, a Hindu ascetic who abandons
the material and social worlds. His first
published story was, 'Mandir'.
He died in Kolkata of liver cancer in
1938.
Works
" Baradidi, 1907
" Bindur Chhele, 1913
" Parinita/Parineeta, 1914
" Biraj Bou, 1914
" Ramer Shumoti, 1914
" Palli Shomaj, 1916
" Arakhsanya, 1916
" Debdas/Devdas, 1917 (written in
1901)
" Choritrohin, 1917
" Srikanto, (4 parts, 1917, 1918,
1927, 1933)
" Datta, 1917-19
" Grihodaho, 1919
" Dena Paona, 1923
" Pather Dabi, 1926
" Ses Prasna, 1931.
Films
His works have been made into numerous
films, particularly Devdas and Parineeta.
Select Awards and Degrees
" Kuntolin (For Mandir)
" D-Lit (Given by University of Dhaka,
now in Bangladesh)
References
General
" Ganguly, Swagato. "Introduction."
In Parineeta by Saratchandra Chattopadhyay.
New Delhi: Penguin Books, 2005. (English
translation)
" Guha, Sreejata. "Introduction."
In Devdas by Saratchandra Chattopadhyay.
New Delhi: Penguin Books, 2002. (English
translation)
" Roy, Gopalchandra. Saratchandra,
Ananda Publishers Pvt. Ltd., Kolkata
" Sarat Rachanabali, Ananda Publishers
Pvt. Ltd., Kolkata
" Prithwindra Mukherjee. "Introduction"
in Mahesh et autres nouvelles by Saratchandra
Chatterji. Paris: Unesco/Gallimard, 1978.
(French translation of Mahesh, Bindur
chhele and Mejdidi by Prithwindra Mukherjee.
Foreword by Jean Filliozat)
Textbooks
" Golpo Songroho (Collected Stories),
the national text book of B.A. (pass and
subsidiary) course of Bangladesh, published
by University of Dhaka in 1979 (reprint
in 1986).
" Bangla Sahitya (Bengali Literature),
the national text book of intermediate
(college) level of Bangladesh published
in 1996 by all educational boards.