Purushottam Laxman Deshpande, popularly known by his initials or as P. L. Deshpande, was a Marathi writer and humorist from Maharashtra. He was also an accomplished film and stage actor, script writer, author, composer, musician, singer and orator. He was often referred to as "Maharashtra's beloved personality".
Samyukta Maharashtra Movement, commonly known as the Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti, was an organisation in India that advocated for a separate Marathi-speaking state in Western India and Central India from 1956 to 1960.
Ashok Saraf is an Indian actor and comedian, known for his work in Marathi and Hindi films along with theatre in both languages. Saraf has received several awards including eleven Maharashtra State Film Awards and four Filmfare Awards Marathi. He is referred to as the Mahanayak, Ashok Samrat or Mama of the Marathi film industry. In 2023, he received the Maharashtra Bhushan, the highest civilian honour in the Indian state of Maharashtra.
Vilas Sarang was a modernist Indian writer, critic, translator and a professor of English who wrote in Marathi and English. He died in 2015 in Mahim's Hinduja hospital.
Gangadhar Gopal Gadgil was a Marathi writer & academic from Maharashtra, India. He was born in Mumbai in 1923. After receiving a master's degree in economics from the University of Mumbai, he worked as a professor of economics at Sydenham College and also a few other colleges in Mumbai. He was the first principal of well known Narsee Monjee College of Commerce and Economics from 1964-71. Gadgil was a prolific and multi-faceted writer, with published work in Economics, Literature, Biography, Literary Criticism and Travel Writing. The U.S. Library of Congress South Asian Literary Recordings Project has recordings of his reading from six of his books. They have also acquired sixty-five of his books for their collection.
Anant Kakba Priolkar was an Indian polemicist, author and political activist. Born in 1895, he started writing while he was in school and his writing stopped only with his death. He was also elected as the President of the Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan held in 1951 at Karwar. His book The Goa Inquisition remains his bestselling work. He also considered Konkani as a dialect of Marathi language. He died in Maharashtra in 1973.
Bhalchandra Vanaji Nemade is an Indian Marathi language writer, poet, critic and linguistic scholar. Beginning with his debut novel Kosala, Nemade brought new dimensions to the world of Marathi literature. This was followed by a tetralogy consisting of novels Bidhar, Hool, Jareela and Jhool. In 2013, Nemade published his magnum opus titled Hindu: Jagnyachi Samruddha Adgal which is regarded as his masterpiece. Nemade is a recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award as well as the Jnanapith Award, the highest literary honour in India. In 2013, he was awarded the Padma Shri.
Narayan Govind Kalelkar was a linguist from Maharashtra, India.
Balakrishna Bhagwant Borkar commonly referred to as Bakibab Borkar, also known as Bā Bha Borkar, or Ba-ki-baab was an Indian poet. He started writing poems at an early age. The author Vi SA Khandekar was an early champion of Borkar's poetry. Borkar joined Goa's fight for freedom in the 1950s and moved to Pune, where he worked for the radio. Most of his literature is written in Marathi, though his Konkani output is also considerable. He excelled as a prose writer as well. His long poems Mahatmayan, an unfinished poem dedicated to Gandhi), and TamaHstotra are famous. One of his famous poems is "Mazha Gaav", meaning "My village". After Borkar's death, Pu La Deshpande and his wife Sunitabai performed public readings of Borkar's poetry.
Vishwanath Vaman Bapat, also known as Vasant Bapat, was a Marathi poet from Maharashtra, India.
Narayan Gangaram Surve was a Marathi poet from Maharashtra, India.
Satish Vasant Alekar is a Marathi playwright, actor, and theatre director. A founder member of the Theatre Academy of Pune, and most known for his plays Mahanirvan (1974), Mahapoor (1975), Atirekee (1990), Pidhijat (2003), Mickey ani Memsahib (1973), and Begum Barve (1979), all of which he also directed for the Academy. ‘’ Ek Divas Mathakade एकदिवस मठाकडे ‘’ (2012) and ‘’ ठकीशी संवाद Thakishi Samvad’’ (2024) these two recent plays were directed by Nipun Dharmadhikari and Anupam Barve respectively. Along with Mahesh Elkunchwar and Vijay Tendulkar he is considered among the most influential and progressive playwrights in modern Marathi and Indian theatre.
Mangesh Keshav Padgaoankar was a legendary Marathi poet from Maharashtra, India.
Vijaya Rajadhyaksha is a Marathi writer from Maharashtra, India.
F. M. Shinde (Rupurkar) is a Marathi writer from Maharashtra, India.
Dr. Janardan Madhavrao Waghmare is an Indian politician and educationist. He has served as a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha from Maharashtra. He was also the President of the Latur Municipal Council.
Dr. Akshaykumar Malharrao Kale born 27 July 1953, is a critic of modern Marathi poetry, and was Professor and Head of Marathi Department in RTM Nagpur University, Nagpur, India. In the field of criticism of modern Marathi poetry, his contributions have attracted the attention of scholars of Marathi language and literature throughout Maharashtra. He was the president of prestigious 90th Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan held in Dombivali. Kale is also member of general Council of Sahitya Akademi, India.
Madhav Yeshwant Gadkari (1928–2006) was an Indian journalist and the editor of Loksatta, a popular Marathi daily published by the Indian Express Group. He was also associated with the All India Radio, Maharashtra Times, Sakal and their Goa edition, Gomantak Times during his career. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian award of Padma Shri in 1990.
Namdeo Chandrabhan Kamble is an Indian Marathi-language writer, social worker, journalist and teacher. He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1995 for his novel Raghav Vel. He was awarded Padma Shri in the field of literature and education in 2021.
