The 90-year-old was a well-known writer and activist.
Eminent author and social activist Mahasweta Devi passed away at around 3.16 pm on Thursday due to multi-organ failure. She was 90, when she breathed her last at a South Kolkata hospital.
Devi had been suffering from lung-related ailments since a long time and had been undergoing treatment at the Belle Vue Hospital since May 22.
On Saturday night, she had suffered a cardiac arrest, after which her health condition had deteriorated.
Her first book, Jhansir Rani was published in 1956. This marked the beginning of her prolific literary journey. In the last 40 years, as many as 100 novels and 20 short stories of Devi were published.
She also played a significant role during the Nandigram and Singur incidents in Bengal. Besides this, she always stood up for women, tribals, the downtrodden and underprivileged.
“India has lost a great writer. Bengal has lost a glorious mother. I have lost a personal guide. Mahashweta Di rest in peace,” tweeted Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Mahasweta Devi was a recipient of several prestigious awards. She was awarded with India’s highest literary award in 1995 – the Jnanpith award. The following year, she was awarded with Asia’s equivalent of the Nobel award – Magsaysay award.
Later, she was awarded with the Padma Vibhushan that recognised her as a writer and activist.
Mahasweta Devi was born in 1926 in Dhaka, to literary parents in a Hindu Brahmin family. Her father Manish Ghatak was a well known poet and novelist of the Kallol era. He also happened to be the elder brother of the noted filmmaker Ritwik Ghatak.
Her first schooling was in Dhaka, but after the partition of India she moved to West Bengal in India. She joined the Viswa Bharati University in Santiniketan and then studied at the Calcutta University, where she completed BA (Hons) and MA (Hons) in English.
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