Biography of Sumitranandan Pant

(Born: 20 May 1900, Kausani - Died: 28 December 1977, Prayagraj)

Sumitranandan Pant is one of the four pillars of Chhayawadi school of Hindi poetry. He was born at Kausani (Kumaon) in a Brahmin family. He did schooling at Almora and Varanasi. Thereafter, he joined Muir Central College but gave up his studies during Gandhi's Non-Cooperation Movement.

Pant was well-versed in Hindi, Sanskrit, English and Bengali. He was deeply influenced by Rabindranath Tagore, Aurobindo Ghose and Gandhi. His first poem Pallava' was published in 1926. It is inspired by nature and dwells on her beauty and on the finer emotions. His other famous poem is Jyotsna' (1934), an epic of over 20,000 lines.

Pant also wrote a considerable amount of prose, novels, short stories and a short autobiography. He often used Sanskritised words and figurative style in his writings. Therefore, at times, his poetry and prose are difficult to comprehend. In 1968, he was awarded the Jnanpith Puraskar, the highest award the country offers for literature.