Pramatha Chaudhuri (প্রমথ চৌধুরী) Books

Pramatha Chaudhuri or Pramathanath Chaudhuri is considered to be a pioneer of modern Bengali writing. He is widely known as Birbal in the world of Bengali literature. He emphasized on “current” Bengali to be the medium of composing Bengali prose. He has used both simple and complex phrases in his writings in an impeccable way and this helped to modernize the shape of Bengali prose.

Chaudhuri was born in 1868 in Haripur village of Pabna in present day Bangladesh. His father was Durgadas Chaudhuri, who used to work as a high rank official under British Government and mother was Sukumari Debi. He had an indirect relationship with World poet Rabindranath Tagore through her mother and his wife Indira Devi Chaudhurani. Chaudhuri was brought up in a healthy culture. This paved the way for him to develop a good sense of humor and free thought that stimulated his writing spirit. After completing his graduation at the then Presidency College of Kolkata, Chaudhuri went to England and became a Barrister-at-Law. He started practicing at Kolkata High Court and later he had worked as a Professor at the Department of Law in Calcutta University. He spent the last few years of his life at Santiniketan and breathed his last there in 1946.

Chaudhuri first appeared as an editor of the famous magazine “Sabuj Patra” and also formed a fraternity of promising writers. His first original prose was “Jaydeva”, which was published in 1890. His main objective was to infuse the colloquial style and elements of prudence in his writing. It was his patriotism that led him to find the prospect in native Bengali language. His famous literary works include ‘Du-Yarki’, ‘Hindu Sangeet’, ‘Birbaler Halkhata’, ‘Tel Nun Lakri’, ‘Ghare Baire’, ‘Rayater Katha’ etc. He had also proven himself as a born poet by blending Italian sonnet with the tone of classic Bengali literature. ‘Sonnet Panchasat’, ‘Sonnet Panchasat and Anyanya Kabita’, ’Padacharan’ these are his notable poetries. His another significant work was ‘Char Yari Katha’, for which he was somewhat criticized. He will forever be considered as a prominent figure to present the different prospects of Bengali literature to the readers.