Biography

Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) was the youngest son of Debendranath Tagore, a leader of the Brahmo Samaj, which was a new religious sect in nineteenth-century Bengal and which attempted a revival of the ultimate monistic basis of Hinduism as laid down in the Upanishads. He was educated at home; and although at seventeen he was sent to England for formal schooling, he did not finish his studies there. In his mature years, in addition to his many-sided literary activities, he managed the family estates, a project which brought him into close touch with common humanity and increased his interest in social reforms. He also started an experimental school at Shantiniketan where he tried his

Upanishadic ideals of education. From time to time he participated in the Indian nationalist movement, though in his own non-sentimental and visionary way; and Gandhi, the political father of modern India, was his devoted friend. Tagore was knighted by the ruling British Government in 1915, but within a few years he resigned the honour as a protest against British policies in India. Tagore had early success as a writer in his native Bengal. With his translations of some of his poems he became rapidly known in the West. In fact his fame attained a luminous height, taking him across continents on lecture tours and tours of friendship. For the world he became the voice of India's spiritual heritage; and for India, especially for Bengal, he became a great living institution. Although Tagore wrote successfully in all literary genres, he was first of all a poet. Among his fifty and odd volumes of poetry are Manasi (1890) [The Ideal One], Sonar Tari (1894) [The Golden Boat], Gitanjali (1910) [Song Offerings], Gitimalya (1914) [Wreath of Songs], and Balaka (1916) [The Flight of Cranes]. The English renderings of his poetry, which include The Gardener (1913), FruitGathering (1916), and The Fugitive (1921), do not generally correspond to particular volumes in the original Bengali; and in spite of its title, Gitanjali: Song Offerings (1912), the most acclaimed of them, contains poems from other works besides its namesake. Tagore's major plays are Raja (1910) [The King of the Dark Chamber], Dakghar (1912) [The Post Office], Achalayatan (1912) [The Immovable], Muktadhara (1922) [The Waterfall], and Raktakaravi (1926) [Red Oleanders]. He is the author of several volumes of short stories and a number of novels, among them Gora (1910), Ghare-Baire (1916) [The Home and the World], and Yogayog (1929) [Crosscurrents]. Besides these, he wrote musical dramas, dance dramas, essays of all types, travel diaries, and two autobiographies, one in his middle years and the other shortly before his death in 1941. Tagore also left numerous drawings and paintings, and songs for which he wrote the music himself. From Nobel Lectures, Literature 1901-1967, Editor Horst Frenz, Elsevier Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 1969

This autobiography/biography was written at the time of the award and first published in the book series Les Prix Nobel. It was later edited and republished in Nobel Lectures. To cite this document, always state the source as shown above.

Rabindranath Tagore died on August 7, 1941.

Bahinabai Chaudhari (Devanagari: ) (1880 3 December 1951) was a noted Marathi poetess from Maharashtra, India.[1]

[edit] Life and works

She was born in 24 August,1880 (Nagpanchami) in Asoda in Khandesh District (presentday Jalgaon district). At the age of 13, she was married to Nathuji Chaudhari and became an early widow.[1] Though Bahinabai was totally illiterate, she was an accomplished poetess. She verbally composed her poems in ovi () metre, and her son Sopandev Chaudhari (1907-1982) wrote them down on paper. Her poems in Leva Ganboli language reflected her minute observations of nature and human life around her. They displayed her sense of subtle humor and much wisdom. One of her ovi can give you idea about her poems "Sonya chandina madhla, marvadyacha balaji, garibacha ra vithoba, pana phula mhandi raji"

Mangesh Keshav Padgaonkar

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(Redirected from Mangesh Padgaonkar) Jump to: navigation, search

Mangesh Keshav Padgaonkar

March 10, 1929 (age 82) Vengurla, Sindhudurg District, Maharashtra B orn Nationality Field Indian Marathi Poetry Maharashtra Bhushan - 2008, Sahitya Academy Awards Award - 1980, M.P. Literary Award 1956, Maharashtra State Award - '53/'55 Mangesh Keshav Padgaonkar (Devanagari: ) is a Marathi poet from Maharashtra, India. He was born on March 10, 1929 in Vengurla, Sindhudurg District in Maharashtra. He is married to Yashoda Padgaonkar and has three children, Dr. Ajit Padgaonkar, Abhay Padgaonkar and Anjali Kulkarni.

Contents
[hide]

1 Education and Career 2 Literary career 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Education and Career

He received a Master of Arts degree in Marathi and Sanskrit from the University of Bombay, He taught Marathi at Ruia College for some years, and then during the 1970 1990 period served as an editor at the U.S. Information Service, both in Mumbai. Padgaonkar has 40 publications to his credit. The U.S. Library of Congress has acquired 31 of his publications.[1] Padgaonkar has received several awards, including the Sahitya Academy Award in 1980 for his collection of poems Salam ( ), the M.P. Literary Conference Award in 1956, and the Maharashtra State Award in 1953 and 1955. In 2008 Padgaonkar was awarded with Maharashtra Bhushan Award along with Late Nana Dharmadhikari, noted Spiritual leader. [2]

[edit] Literary career

The following is a partial list of collections of Padgaonkar's poems.

Dharanrtya (1950) Sharmishtha (1960) Kavyadarshan (1962) Utsav (1962) Salam (1980) Gajhala (1981) Bhatake Pakshi (1984) Tujhe Gita Ganyasathi (1989) Bolagani (1990) Nava Diwas (1993) Sutti Eke Sutti (1993) Jipsi (1994) Mira (1995) Triveni (1995) Udasabodh (1996) Kabira (1997) Vatratika(1999) Vidushak (1999)

Moru (1999) Suradas (1999) Kavita Manasanchya, Manasasathi (1999) Radha (2000)

[edit] References
1. ^ "The South Asian Literary Recording Project". Library of Congress, New Delhi.
http://www.loc.gov/acq/ovop/delhi/salrp/mangeshpadgaonkar.html. Retrieved 2010-0101. 2. ^ "Dharmadhikari & Padgaonkar bags Maharashtra Bhushan award". Times of India. http://www.mumbaipluses.com/newbombayplus/index.aspx? page=article&sectid=1&contentid=20081126200811261150445277d302924&sectxslt=& comments=true. Retrieved 2009-12-02.

[edit] External links

Mangesh Padgaonkar to perform at Kala Academy Auditorium, April 24th, 2010 Dubai to host world Marathi Sammelan - IndiaNews, Jan 11th, 2010 Mangesh Padgaonkar selected as president of 2nd Global Marathi Meet, India Tribune, Jan 9th, 2010 Veteran Poet Mangesh Padgaonkar Gets Lifetime Achievement Award, May 11th, 2009 Marathi poet gifts books to Shakespeare Memorial, Midday News, March 9th, 2009 Padgaonkar to get Maharashtra Bhushan Award, April 30th, 2008 The Word Of A Poet, Anagha Sawant, Indian Express, June 5th, 1997 Sahitya Academy Awardees - Marathi, 1980

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mangesh_Keshav_Padgaonkar"

William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)

For all his fame and celebration, William Shakespeare remains a mysterious figure with regards to personal history. There are just two primary sources for information on the Bard: his works, and various legal and church documents that have survived from Elizabethan times. Naturally, there are many gaps in this body of information, which tells us little about Shakespeare the man. William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, allegedly on April 23, 1564. Church records from Holy Trinity Church indicate that he was baptized there on April 26, 1564. Young William was born of John Shakespeare, a glover and leather merchant, and Mary Arden, a landed heiress. William, according to the church register, was the third of eight children the Shakespeare household three of whom died in childhood. John Shakespeare had a remarkable run of success as a merchant, and later as an alderman and high bailiff of Stratford, during William's early childhood. His fortunes declined, however, in the 1570s. There is great conjecture about Shakespeare's childhood years, especially regarding his education. It is surmised by scholars that Shakespeare attended the free grammar school in Stratford, which at the time had a reputation to rival Eton. While there are no records extant to prove this claim, Shakespeare's knowledge of Latin and Classical Greek would tend to support this theory. In addition, Shakespeare's first biographer, Nicholas Rowe, wrote that John Shakespeare had placed William "for some time in a free school." John Shakespeare, as a Stratford official, would have been granted a waiver of tuition for his son. As the records do not exist, we do not know how long William attended the school, but certainly the literary quality of his works suggest a solid education. What is certain is that William Shakespeare never proceeded to university schooling, which has stirred some of the debate concerning the authorship of his works. The next documented event in Shakespeare's life is his marriage to Anne

Hathaway on November 28, 1582. William was 18 at the time, and Anne was 26 and pregnant. Their first daughter, Susanna, was born on May 26, 1583. The couple later had twins, Hamnet and Judith, born February 2, 1585 and christened at Holy Trinity. Hamnet died in childhood at the age of 11, on August 11, 1596. For seven years, William Shakespeare effectively disappears from all records, turning up in London circa 1592. This has sparked as much controversy about Shakepeare's life as any period. Rowe notes that young Shakespeare was quite fond of poaching, and may have had to flee Stratford after an incident with Sir Thomas Lucy, whose lands he allegedly hunted. There is also rumor of Shakespeare working as an assistant schoolmaster in Lancashire for a time, though this is circumstantial at best. It is estimated that Shakespeare arrived in London around 1588 and began to establish himself as an actor and playwright. Evidently, Shakespeare garnered envy early on for his talent, as related by the critical attack of Robert Greene, a London playwright, in 1592: "...an upstart crow, beautified with our feathers, that with his Tiger's heart wrapped in a player's hide, supposes he is as well able to bombast out a blank verse as the best of you: and being an absolute Johannes fac totum, is in his own conceit the only Shakescene in a country." Greene's bombast notwithstanding, Shakespeare must have shown considerable promise. By 1594, he was not only acting and writing for the Lord Chamberlain's Men (called the King's Men after the ascension of James I in 1603), but was a managing partner in the operation as well. With Will Kempe, a master comedian, and Richard Burbage, a leading tragic actor of the day, the Lord Chamberlain's Men became a favorite London troupe, patronized by royalty and made popular by the theatre-going public. When the plague forced theatre closings in the mid1590s, Shakespeare and his company made plans for the Globe Theatre in the Bankside district, which was across the river from London proper. Shakespeare's success is apparent when studied against other playwrights of

this age. His company was the most successful in London in his day. He had plays published and sold in octavo editions, or "penny-copies" to the more literate of his audiences. It is noted that never before had a playwright enjoyed sufficient acclaim to see his works published and sold as popular literature in the midst of his career. While Shakespeare could not be accounted wealthy, by London standards, his success allowed him to purchase New House and retire in comfort to Stratford in 1611. William Shakespeare wrote his will in 1611, bequeathing his properties to his daughter Susanna (married in 1607 to Dr. John Hall). To his surviving daughter Judith, he left 300, and to his wife Anne left "my second best bed." William Shakespeare allegedly died on his birthday, April 23, 1616. This is probably more of a romantic myth than reality, but Shakespeare was interred at Holy Trinity in Stratford on April 25. In 1623, two working companions of Shakespeare from the Lord Chamberlain's Men, John Heminges and Henry Condell, printed the First Folio edition of the Collected Works, of which half the plays contained therein were previously unpublished. The First Folio also contained Shakespeare's sonnets. William Shakespeare's legacy is a body of work that will never again be equaled in Western civilization. His words have endured for 400 years, and still reach across the centuries as powerfully as ever. Even in death, he leaves a final piece of verse as his epitaph: ..

Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886)

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) was born in Amherst, Massachusetts, to a family well known for educational and political activity. Her father, an orthodox Calvinist, was a lawyer and treasurer of the local college. He also served in Congress. Dickinson's mother, whose name was also Emily, was a cold, religious, hardworking housewife, who suffered from depression. Her relationship with her daughter was distant. Later Dickinson wrote in a letter, that she never had a mother Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) was born in Amherst, Massachusetts, to a family well known for educational and political activity. Her father, an orthodox Calvinist, was a lawyer and treasurer of the local college. He also served in Congress. Dickinson's mother, whose name was also Emily, was a cold, religious, hardworking housewife, who suffered from depression. Her relationship with her daughter was distant. Later Dickinson wrote in a letter, that she never had a mother. Dickinson was educated at Amherst Academy (1834-47) and Mount Holyoke Female Seminary (1847-48). Around 1850 she started to compose poems "Awake ye muses nine, sing me a strain divine, / Unwind the solemn twine, and tie my Valentine!" she said in her earliest known poem, dated March 4, 1850. It was published in Springfield Daily Republican in 1852. The style of her first efforts was fairly conventional, but after years of practice she began to give room for experiments. Often written in the metre of hymns, her poems dealt not only with issues of death, faith and immortality, but with nature, domesticity, and the power and limits of language. From c.1858 Dickinson assembled many of her poems in packets of 'fascicles', which she bound herself with needle and thread. A selection of these poems appeared in 1890. In 1862 Dickinson started her life long correspondence and friendship with Thomas Wentworth Higginson (1823-1911), a writer and reformer, who

commanded during the Civil War the first troop of African-American soldiers. Higginson later published Army Life in a Black Regiment in 1870. On of the four poems he received from Dickinson was the famous 'Safe in their Alabaster Chambers.'