Biography of Mahasweta Devi

(14 January 1926 - 28 July 2016)

Mahasweta Devi is a great writer and activist. She is one of the most eminent personalities who has taken up the cause of the oppressed and the downtrodden people. She advocates the plight of the exploited and unpaid labour not only through literary works but also by forming labourer's organisations like the 'Bonded Labour Liberation Organisation

She was born in 1926 in Dacca (Bangladesh) in a well-educated family. Her father was a famous writer. She completed higher studies from Vishwa Bharti University. Later on she joined the Post and Telegraph Department in 1949. Later she resigned and became an English teacher. She was also a rural reporter in a Bengali daily.

She has written 42 novels, 15 collections of stories and books for children. Mahasweta Devi, in association with Swami Agnivesh, organised the welfare societies for tribal and oppressed groups to enable them to fight for their basic human rights. She got the Magsaysay award in 1996. She was also honoured with the Jnanpith award in 1995.