Serajul Islam Choudhury

Last updated

Serajul Islam Choudhury
সিরাজুল ইসলাম চৌধুরী
Serajul Islam Choudhury.jpg
Choudhury at the University of Dhaka (Feb 2015)
Born (1936-06-23) 23 June 1936 (age 87)
NationalityBangladeshi
EducationPh.D.
Alma mater
SpouseNazma Jesmin Choudhury
Children
  • Rownak Ara Choudhury
  • Sharmin Choudhury
Parents
  • Hafizuddin Chowdhury (father)
  • Asia Khatun (mother)
Relatives Amanul Islam Chowdhury (brother)

Serajul Islam Choudhury (born 23 June 1936) is a Bangladeshi literary critic, public intellectual, social and political analyst, activist, historian, educationist, editor, translator, columnist, and professor emeritus at the University of Dhaka. He is the editor of Natun Diganta. Considered one of the foremost oppositional intellectuals of Bangladesh, he authored nearly a hundred books and countless essays in Bangla and English. [1]

Contents

Early life and education

Choudhury was born in the village of Baroikhali under the Sreenagar thana in the district of Munshigonj. [2] He is the eldest of the nine brothers and four sisters to their parents Hafizuddin Chowdhury and Asia Khatun. [2] In his early life, he liked to build his career as a novelist, but his father wanted him to join the civil service after a degree in Economics. On a note of compromise, he enrolled with the English department at the University of Dhaka after an intermediate of arts degree, obtained in 1952 from Notre Dame College, preceded by his matriculation from St. Gregory's High School in 1950. He received his MA degree in 1956 and taught briefly at Haraganga College in Munshiganj and Jagannath College in Dhaka. He completed his post-graduate diploma in English Studies at The University of Leeds , the UK and obtained his doctorate in English from Leicester University, the UK. [3]

Career

Choudhury joined as a lecturer the Department of English, Dhaka University, in 1957, planning also to be a writer. He decided not to become a bureaucrat which many around him were becoming then. He stated two reasons why he wanted to be a writer: first, his work at the university, which would ensure that he would not be transferred from place to place and which would allow him time to read and write a lot; and, second, his temperament. In more than four decades that followed, he taught students, wrote essays, headed the department, became Dean, spawned off several academic and research projects, initiated doctoral dissertation guidance at the department, started periodicals, founded study centers, and remained involved in university politics. [4] Choudhury first initiated to offer the Ph.D. degree in English at Dhaka University. He edited journals, the university journals of arts and letters, in Bangla and English — Dhaka Visvavidyalay Patrika for 15 years and Dhaka University Studies for nine years. He founded the Visvavidyalay Patrika. Choudhury also founded a national views weekly called Somoy and co-edited it with Azfar Hussain, Zaheda Ahmad et al, from the early to the mid-1990s. He founded the University Book Centre in 1978 and the Centre for Advanced Research in Humanities in 1986. In keeping with the spirit, he now runs a centre called Samaj Rupantar Adhyayan Kendra (Centre for Social Transformation Studies), which works towards waking people up to a democracy which would mean ‘equality of rights and opportunities. Rights being equal would not mean anything unless the opportunities remain equal.’ [5]

Personal life

Choudhury was married to Nazma Jesmin Choudhury. She was a professor the University of Dhaka. Their children are Rownak Ara Choudhury and Sharmin Choudhury. [2]

Awards

Selected publications

Choudhury's books in the Bengali language:

Choudhury's books in the English:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kazi Nazrul Islam</span> Bengali poet, writer and musician (1899–1976)

Kazi Nazrul Islam, popularly known as Nazrul, was a Bengali poet, writer, musician, and is revered as the national poet of Bangladesh. Regarded as one of the greatest poets in Bengali literature, Nazrul produced a large body of poetry, music, messages, novels, and stories with themes that included equality, justice, anti-imperialism, humanity, rebellion against oppression and religious devotion. Nazrul Islam's activism for political and social justice as well as writing a poem titled as "Bidrohī", meaning "the rebel" in Bengali, earned him the title of "Bidrohī Kôbi". His compositions form the avant-garde music genre of Nazrul Gīti.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shamsur Rahman (poet)</span> Bangladeshi poet, writer, journalist

Shamsur Rahman was a Bangladeshi poet, columnist and journalist. A prolific writer, Rahman produced more than sixty books of poetry collection and is considered a key figure in Bengali literature from the latter half of the 20th century. He was regarded as the unofficial poet laureate of Bangladesh. Major themes in his poetry and writings include liberal humanism, human relations, romanticised rebellion of youth, the emergence of and consequent events in Bangladesh, and opposition to religious fundamentalism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Munier Choudhury</span> Bangladeshi playwriter

Munier Choudhury was a Bangladeshi educationist, playwright, literary critic and political dissident. He was a victim of the mass killing of Bangladeshi intellectuals in 1971. He was awarded Independence Day Award in 1980, by the then president Ziaur Rahman's government, posthumously.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ahmed Sharif</span> Educationist, philosopher, critic, writer and scholar of medieval Bengali literature

Ahmed Sharif was an educationist, philosopher, critic, writer and scholar of medieval Bengali literature. He is recognized as one of the most outspoken atheist and radical thinkers of Bangladesh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Gregory's High School and College</span> High school & college in Dhaka, Bangladesh

St. Gregory's High School & College is a Catholic school in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It was founded in 1882, when the city was part of British India, by Gregory De Groote, a Belgian Benedictine priest. The school, located on Municipal office street of Luxmibazar neighborhood of old Dhaka, was named after Pope Gregory I (540–604). Brother Ujjal Placid Pereira, CSC is the current principal of the institution.Brother Leonard Rozario,CSC is the current Vice principal of the institution.

Abdur Rouf Choudhury was a Bengali writer.

Syed Ali Ahsan was a Bangladeshi poet, writer and university academic. He was awarded Ekushey Padak (1982) and Independence Day Award (1987) by the Government of Bangladesh. In 1987, he was selected as the National Professor of Bangladesh. He was credited as the official English translator of the National Anthem of Bangladesh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abdul Mannan Syed</span>

Abdul Mannan Syed was a Bangladeshi poet, and critic. He is known for his considerable research works on Kazi Nazrul Islam, Jibanananda Das, Farrukh Ahmad, Syed Waliullah, Manik Bandyopadhyay, Bishnu De, Samar Sen, Roquiah Sakhawat Hossain, Abdul Ghani Hazari, Muhammad Wajed Ali, Prabodh Chandra Sen. From 2002 to 2004, he had been the executive director of Nazrul Institute.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mohammad Nurul Huda</span> Bangladeshi poet and novelist

Mohammad Nurul Huda is a Bangladeshi poet and novelist. Currently Huda is serving as the Director General of Bangla Academy from 12 July 2021.He has written more than fifty poetry books. He was awarded the Ekushey Padak in 2015. Huda was born to Mohammad Sekander and Anjuman Ara Begum in Poak Khali of Cox's Bazar district, Bangladesh on 30 September 1949.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh</span> Private university in Bangladesh

University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB) is a private liberal arts-based university in Dhanmondi, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Founded in February 2002, permission to open was received from the University Grants Commission (UGC) of Bangladesh in November 2003, pursuant to the Private University Act, 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rashid Choudhury</span>

Rashid Hossain Choudhury was a Bangladeshi second generation artist, sculptor, writer and professor. He played a major part in the art movements and improvement in the art-related educational institutions of Bangladesh. He has received numerous awards and recognition for creative contribution and innovative influence. During the 1950s, he had been a significant pioneer in the modern art movement in Bandladesh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Culture of Bengal</span> Overview of the Bengali culture

The culture of Bengal defines the cultural heritage of the Bengalis or Bangali people native to eastern regions of the Indian subcontinent, mainly what is today the independent state of Bangladesh and the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura, Assam and Jharkhand, where the Bengali (Bangla) language is the national, the official and the additional official language. The Bengal has a recorded history of 3,100 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muhammadullah Hafezzi</span> Bangladeshi politician

Muḥammadullāh ibn Idrīs ibn Akram ad-Dīn al-Miyānjī, commonly known as Hafezzī Huzūr, was a Bangladeshi politician, Islamic leader and founder of the Bangladesh Khilafat Andolan. He was the first religious figure to stand for the highest state office in Bangladesh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jyotirmoy Guhathakurta</span>

Jyotirmoy Guhathakurta was a Bengali educator and humanist of the former East Pakistan, now Bangladesh. He was one of the Bengali intellectuals killed by the Pakistan Army during the 1971 Dhaka University massacre on the night of 25 March 1971.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Khondakar Ashraf Hossain</span> Bangladeshi writer

Khondakar Ashraf Hossain was a leading postmodernist poet, essayist, translator, and editor from Bangladesh. He wrote more than eighteen titles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Dhaka</span> Public university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh

The University of Dhaka is a public technological research university located in Shahbag, Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is the oldest university in Bangladesh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rafiqul Islam (educationist)</span> Bangladeshi educationist (1934–2021)

Rafiqul Islam was a Bangladeshi educationist, scholar, writer, linguist and cultural activist. He was the president of Bangla Academy since May 2021 until his death. He was inducted as a National Professor by the Government of Bangladesh in July 2018. He was a vice-chancellor (2007–2011), professor emeritus and adviser to the Centre for Bangla Studies of the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB). He served as the chairman of the Nazrul Institute Trustee Board. He was awarded Ekushey Padak in 2001 and Independence Day Award in 2012 by the Government of Bangladesh.

Azfar Hussain is a Bangladeshi American theorist, critic, academic, bilingual writer, poet, and translator. He is an Associate Professor of Integrative, Religious, and Intercultural Studies within the Brooks College of Interdisciplinary Studies at Grand Valley State University in Michigan, and vice-president of the Global Center for Advanced Studies (GCAS) and honorary GCAS Professor of English, World Literature, and Interdisciplinary Studies.

<i>Biography of Nazrul</i> 2020 Bangladeshi film

Biography of Nazrul is a 2020 full-length documentary film directed by Ferdous Khan. The film, produced by Al Amin Khan, is based on the illustrious life and work of Kazi Nazrul Islam, National Poet of Bangladesh, under the initiative of Dhaka-based Nazrul Center which was advised by Ikram Ahmed. The scenes of the film have been shot in the places where the memories of Kazi Nazrul Islam are scattered from his birth to his death. In the film, the biography of Kazi Nazrul Islam is narrated in the background voice of Asaduzzaman Noor and Progya Laboni. The documentary was commercially released in theaters on 20 November 2020.

References

  1. Hussain, Azfar (June 23, 2016). "Bangladesh's foremost oppositional intellectual". The Daily Star. The Daily Star. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Hasan Hafiz (January 26, 2017). আমার মা - সিরাজুল ইসলাম চৌধুরী. Anannya Magazine (in Bengali). Retrieved February 3, 2017.
  3. Kaiser Haq (June 23, 2016). "A public intellectual turns 80". New Age. Retrieved February 3, 2017.
  4. "Serajul Islam Choudhury: Our leading public intellectual". New Age. June 23, 2016. Retrieved February 3, 2017.
  5. Syed Manzoorul Islam (June 23, 2016). "Serajul Islam Choudhury: a tribute". New Age. Retrieved February 3, 2017.