Saddiqa khatri at 04:38, 29 April 2026

2026-04-29T04:38:21Z

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{{short description|18th century Bengali female novelist (1882-1958)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2023}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2023}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Anurupa Debi
| native_name = অনুরূপা দেবী
| image = Anurupa_Devi.jpg
| caption = Anurupa Debi
| occupation = Writer
| birth_date = 9 September 1882
| birth_place = [[Shyambazar]], [[Kolkata|Calcutta]], [[British Raj|British India]]
| nationality =
| language = [[Bengali language|Bengali]]
| notable_works = {{plainlist|
*Maa (1934)
*Pather Sathi(1946)
*Mantra Shakti (1954)
*Gariber Meye (1960)
|}}
| spouse = Shikharnath Bandopadhyay
| children = Ambujnath Bandopadhyay <ref>{{cite web|title=''Sahitye Nari: Shrastri o Srishti'' by Anurupa Debi|url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikisource/bn/e/e1/%E0%A6%B8%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B9%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%A4%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AF%E0%A7%87_%E0%A6%A8%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B0%E0%A7%80_%E2%A6%82_%E0%A6%B8%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%B7%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%9F%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B0%E0%A7%80_%E0%A6%93_%E0%A6%B8%E0%A7%83%E0%A6%B7%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%9F%E0%A6%BF_-_%E0%A6%85%E0%A6%A8%E0%A7%81%E0%A6%B0%E0%A7%82%E0%A6%AA%E0%A6%BE_%E0%A6%A6%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%AC%E0%A7%80.pdf}}</ref>
| period =
| genre =
| death_date = 19 April 1958
| death_place = [[Raniganj]], [[West Bengal]], India
| native_name_lang = bn
| pseudonym = {{plainlist|
*Rani Devi
*Anupama Devi
|}}
}}

'''Anurupa Debi''' (9 September 1882 – 19 April 1958) (also known as, '''Anurupa Devi''')<ref name="Dutta 2013">{{cite news |last1=Dutta |first1=Swapna |title=The home and the world |url=https://www.thehindu.com/books/books-authors/the-home-and-the-world/article4985438.ece |access-date=21 June 2021 |work=[[The Hindu]] |date=3 August 2013}}</ref> was one of the most reputed female novelists in [[Bengali literature]] in the [[British Raj|British colonial era]]. She was also an eminent short story writer, poet as well as a social worker. Debi was one of the first female writers in Bengali literature to gain considerable prominence and popularity.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=দাশগুপ্ত|first=মুনমুন|title=নারীর অধিকার রক্ষায় অগ্রণী তিনি|url=https://www.anandabazar.com/supplementary/rabibashoriyo/anurupa-devi-was-the-pioneer-of-protecting-women-rights-1.1057551|access-date=2020-11-23|website=anandabazar.com|language=bn}}</ref>

== Personal life ==
Anurupa Debi was born on 9 September 1882 to then [[Deputy Magistrate]] and writer, Mukunda Mukhopadhyay and Dhorasundari Debi at her maternal uncle's house at [[Shyambazar]], [[Kolkata|Calcutta]] (now, Kolkata). Social reformer, [[Bhudev Mukhopadhyay|Bhudeb Mukhopadhyay]] was her paternal grandfather. Her maternal grandfather, Nagendranath Bandopadhyay was one of the founder-members of famous ''Bangiya Natyashala''. Her elder sister Surupa Devi (1879–1922) was also an famous novelist of her time who used to write in her [[pseudonym]], ''Indira Devi''.<ref name="life">{{Cite journal|last=Layek|first=Raju|date=July 2013|title=বাংলা সাহিত্যের আঙিনায় অনুরূপা দেবী|url=http://thecho.in/files/Raju-Layek_3wz47s15.pdf|journal=Pratidhwani the Echo|volume=ii|issue=i|via=Academic Journal Database|access-date=22 November 2020|archive-date=16 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160816135747/http://thecho.in/files/Raju-Layek_3wz47s15.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

At the age of ten, she married Shikharnath Bandopadhyay, in [[Hugli-Chuchura|Chinsura, Hooghly]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=অনুরূপা দেবী কবিতা মিলনসাগর Anurupa Debi Poetry MILANSAGAR|url=http://www.milansagar.com/kobi_2/anurupa_debi/kobi-anurupadebi.html|access-date=2020-11-22|website=www.milansagar.com}}</ref> They passed a vast period of their life in [[Muzaffarpur|Muzaffarpur, Bihar]].{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}

== Education ==
Due to severe physical illness in her childhood, Anurupa Debi started to learn a little late. While she was bedridden, her elder sister Surupa Devi used to recite ''[[Kashidasi Mahabharata]]'' and ''[[Krittivasi Ramayan]]a'' to pass their leisure time. Also, according to rules of their family, during their Grandpa's leisure time, they would sit next to him and listen to one chapter of ''[[Mahabharata]]'' and ''[[Ramayana]]'' each day. As a result, Anurupa Debi easily absorbed that subject in her mind. In this context, she said, "Even though at that time I was illiterate, but it cannot be said that I was uneducated, as I memorised most of the stories of ''Ramayana-Mahabharata''. At that time I was of 7."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Devi|first=Anurupa|title=Anurupa Devi-r Nirbachito Golpo|year=2002|publisher=Dey's Publishing|isbn=81-7612-997-6|location=Kolkata|pages=175}}</ref>

Her elder sisters used to practice writing poetry by reading [[Sanskrit]] poems from their Grandpa. Thus, she also became educated in her childhood under the patronage of their Grandpa, [[Bhudev Mukhopadhyay|Bhudeb Mukhopadhyay]] and father Mukunda Mukhopadhyay. She had a special fondness for education and learning since her childhood. Besides Bengali, she earned considerable mastery in Sanskrit and Hindi. She used to study to a lot of books of various Western Scholars and therefore became acquainted with Western science and philosophy.<ref name="life"/>

== Literary works ==
Till the mid-19th century, Indian women were deprived from education and people used to restrict them only within household chores, as they remained largely uneducated. It was seen as a social 'crime' for them to be educated or to achieve basic level of education. They didn't have equal rights at all. In the context of severe gender discrimination, Debi broke the chain and established herself as an eminent Bengali novelist, writer and poet of her time.<ref name="life"/>

Once in her childhood, her elder sister Surupa Devi sent her letters on colorful papers in form of poetry. Reading that letter Anurupa Devi became confused how should she reply. When she asked her Grandpa for advice, Bhudeb babu insisted her to write the reply in form of poetry. On advice of her Grandpa, Anurupa Devi wrote a reply letter in form of poetry as given below:

{{Quote box
| quote = পাইয়া তোমার পত্র, পুলকিত হল গাত্র
আস্তেব্যস্তে খুলিলাম পড়িবার তরে {{!}}

পুঁথি গন্ধ পাইলাম, কারুকার্য হেরিলাম
পুলক জাগিল অন্তরে {{!}}
| author = Anurupa Devi
| source = ''Anurupa Devi-r Nirbachito Golpo''<ref name="book">{{Cite book|last=Devi|first=Anurupa|title=Anurupa Devi-r Nirbachito Golpo|year=2002|publisher=Dey's Publishing|isbn=81-7612-997-6|location=Kolkata|pages=176}}</ref>{{efn|Receiving your letter, delighted me, opened it slowly to read. Getting the smell of book, watching the artwork, excitement awakens amid <small>(English translation)</small>}}
| align = center
| width = 35%
| border = 0px
| fontsize = 100%
| bgcolor = #F9F9F9
| qalign = center
}}

This poem is known to be the very first composition of Anurupa Debi. In her words, {{Blockquote|"I can't remember whether it is in the original form or not, which I wrote. It is probably the version after being revised by Grandpa. However, this is the very first composition of my life."<ref name="book"/> }}

She successfully composed [[Markandeya Purana|''Markandeya Chandi'']] in a poem and the starting chapter of ''[[Valmiki Ramayana]]'' before the age of only 10.<ref name="life" />

Debi used not to reveal her initial literary endeavors to anyone except her elder sister, Surupa Devi, who used to write in her [[pseudonym]], ''Indira Devi''.<ref>Some of Indira (Surupa) Devi's novels like ''Sparshamani'' (1919), ''Parajita'' (1921), ''Pratyabartan'' (1922) etc.</ref> Her first piece of work got published in ''Kuntalin Purashkar Granthamala'' with the pseudonym, ''Rani Devi''.

==Critical reception==
In 2013, Swapna Dutta writes for ''[[The Hindu]]'', Anurupa "ruthlessly pointed out the evils of the prevalent social code," and "Nearly all her novels were made into successful stage plays and films."<ref name="Dutta 2013"/>

== Notable works ==
{{columns-list|colwidth=35em|
*Tilakuthi (1906)
*Poshyaputra (1912)<ref name="Dutta 2013"/>
*Bagdotta (1914)
*Jyotihara (1915)
*Mantrashakti (1915)<ref name="Dutta 2013"/>
*Ramgarh (1918)
*Pather Sathi (1918)
*Rangashankha (1918)
*Mahanisha (1919)
*Maa (1920)<ref name="Dutta 2013"/>
*Vidyaratna (1920)
*Shonar Khoni (1922)
*Kumaril Bhatta (1923)
*Uttarayan (1923)
*Pathhara (1923)
}}

*{{cite book |title=Anurupa Devir Nirbachito Golpo |date=2002 |publisher=Dey's Publishing |location=Kolkata |isbn=978-8176129978 |edition=1 |language=bn}}

== Awards ==
*''Kuntalin Puraskar'' for the first published story<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sengupta |first1=Subodhchandra |title=Sansad Bangali charitabhidhan |date=1998 |publisher=Sahitya Samsad |isbn=978-81-85626-65-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MTretgAACAAJ |language=bn}}</ref>
*1919: Sri Bharat Dharma Mahamandal awarded her the title of Dharma Chandrika<ref name=":0" />
*1935: ''Jagattarini Gold Medal'' by [[Calcutta University]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Special Endowment Medals |url=https://www.caluniv.ac.in/about/Endowment.html#spslendwmedls |website=www.caluniv.ac.in |publisher=[[Calcutta University]] |access-date=13 December 2020}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Wikisourcelang-inline|bn|লেখক:অনুরূপা দেবী}}

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Debi, Anurupa}}
[[Category:1882 births]]
[[Category:1958 deaths]]
[[Category:Bengali-language novelists]]
[[Category:Bengali Hindus]]
[[Category:20th-century Bengali people]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian novelists]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian poets]]
[[Category:Indian women short story writers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian short story writers]]
[[Category:Indian autobiographers]]
[[Category:Indian women essayists]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian essayists]]
[[Category:Indian social workers]]
[[Category:Writers from Kolkata]]
[[Category:Women writers from West Bengal]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women poets]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women novelists]]

Anurupa Debi - Revision history

Saddiqa khatri at 04:38, 29 April 2026