->Red Director at 19:18, 16 July 2021

2021-07-16T19:18:34Z

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{{Short description|Indian anthropologist}}
{{Orphan|date=May 2021}}

{{Infobox academic
|name=Lakshman Kumar Mahapatra
|image=L K Mahapatra.jpg
|caption=Lakshman Kumar Mahapatra
|citizenship=[[India]]n
|era=
|workplaces=[[Utkal University]]
|education=[[University of Hamburg]],<br/>[[University of Calcutta]]
|children=Sheela Mahapatra (daughter),<br/>Sujit Mahapatra (son)
|spouse=Hiran Prava Mahapatra<ref name="odishabytes">{{cite news |title=Renowned Anthropologist Prof L K Mahapatra No More |url=https://odishabytes.com/noted-odisha-scholar-prof-l-k-mohapatra-no-more/ |accessdate=6 November 2020 |work=ODISHA BYTES |date=1 June 2020}}</ref>
|occupation=[[Anthropologist]], Educator
|known_for=
|nationality=[[India]]n
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1929|10|29}}<ref name="TNIE">{{cite news |title=Odia anthropologist Prof LK Mahapatra dies at 90 |url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/odisha/2020/jun/02/odia-anthropologist-prof-lk-mahapatra-dies-at-90-2151106.html |accessdate=6 November 2020 |work=The New Indian Express |agency=The New Indian Express |publisher=The New Indian Express |date=2 June 2020}}</ref>
| birth_place = [[Nilagiri]], [[Balasore district]], [[Odisha]], [[India]]<ref name="TNIE"/>
| death_date = {{death date and age |2020|06|01 |1929|10|29 |df=yes}}<ref name="TNIE"/>
| death_place = [[Bhubaneswar]]<ref name="TNIE"/>
|website=}}
'''Lakshman Kumar Mahapatra''' (29 October 1929 – 1 June 2020) was an [[India]]n [[anthropologist]] born in [[Odisha]]. He graduated in anthropology from the [[University of Calcutta]] and received a doctorate from the [[University of Hamburg]]. He was Vice-Chancellor of [[Utkal University]] in 1986 and [[Sambalpur University]] in 1989. While heading the anthropology department at Utkal University, he was the first academic in India to start a course on [[Southeast Asia]] in the regular curriculum at the university level in India.<ref name="Pioneer2">{{cite news|title=Anthropologist Mahapatra no more|url=https://www.dailypioneer.com/2020/state-editions/anthropologist-mahapatra-no-more.html|accessdate=6 November 2020|work=The Pioneer|agency=The Pioneer|publisher=The Pioneer|date=3 November 2020|language=en}}</ref>

He became the first person from Odisha to receive the highest award for social sciences from the Indian [[University Grants Commission (India)|University Grant Commission]].<ref name="OdishaBytes" /> Mahapatra served as an Consultant to the [[World Bank]] from 1985 to 1988 and again from 1995 to 1996 on rehabilitation of displaced populations of India.<ref name="indr">{{cite web |title=Professor Lakshman Kumar Mahapatra (29 October 1929 -- 1 June 2020) |url=http://indr.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Mahapatra-memorial.pdf |website=indr.org |publisher=The International Network on Displacement and Resettlement |access-date=26 May 2021}}</ref> He served as the Director of the [[Nabakrushna Choudhury Centre for Development Studies]] in Bhubaneswar, a social science research study centre set up by the [[Government of Odisha]] in collaboration with the [[Indian Council for Social Science Research]] (ICSSR) from 2003 to 2006. He has been Vice President of the Indian National Confederation and Academy of Anthropology, Vice President of the Anthropological Association of India, and Founder President of the Association for Friendship and Cultural Corporation With Indonesia. He was awarded the gold medal by the [[Indian Anthropology Society]] in 2004 for his lifelong contribution to anthropology. He was honoured by the Indian National Confederation and Academy of Anthropology in 2015.<ref name="OdishaBytes" />

He died in Bhubaneswar on June 1, 2020 at the age of 90.<ref name="OdishaBytes">{{Cite news|date=1 June 2020|title=Renowned Anthropologist Prof L K Mahapatra No More|work=Odisha Bytes|agency=Odisha Bytes|url=https://odishabytes.com/noted-odisha-scholar-prof-l-k-mohapatra-no-more/|access-date=6 November 2020}}</ref>

== Life ==
=== Childhood ===
Mahapatra was born on October 29, 1929 in [[Nilagiri]], a [[Notified Area Council]] in [[Balasore district]] in the Indian state of [[Odisha]].<ref name="TNIE"/>

=== Education ===
He studied at the [[Maharaja Krushna Chandra High School]] in [[Baripada]].

=== University ===
He went to Ravenshaw [[Ravenshaw University|College]] for his intermediate studies and later to the [[University of Calcutta]] for his [[Bachelor of Arts|BA]] and [[Master in Arts|MA]] in Anthropology. He received a [[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]] ''[[magna cum laude]]'' from the [[University of Hamburg]]<ref name="Misra2020">{{cite journal |last1=Misra |first1=Kamal K. |title=Lakshman Kumar Mahapatra (1929–2020): Gifted Scholar, Brilliant Teacher |journal=Social Change |date=2020-09-01 |volume=50 |issue=3 |pages=503–505 |doi=10.1177/0049085720951158}}</ref> in 1960.<ref name="TNIE"/>

=== Career ===
Mahapatra joined the [[Utkal University]] in 1964<ref name="Routray">{{cite web |last1=Routray |first1=Om |title=L.K. Mahapatra put Odisha on the global map of anthropological studies |url=https://www.thehindu.com/society/lk-mahapatra-put-odisha-on-the-global-map-of-anthropological-studies/article33149615.ece |website=The Hindu |access-date=26 May 2021 |language=en-IN |date=2020-11-21}}</ref> where he headed the anthropology department from 1967 to 1989. He started teaching about Southeast Asia as a regular course in collaboration with the Department of Geography and History. This was the first time for a course on Southeast Asia to be taught at an Indian university. He also introduced specialities such as "Development Anthropology" and "Demographic Anthropology" at Utkal University which was also the first for an anthropology department in India.<ref name="OdishaBytes"/>

He was appointed as the vice-chancellor of Utkal University in 1986. He was later the vice-chancellor at [[Sambalpur University]] from 1889 to 1990. He served as a Consultant to the [[World Bank]] for rehabilitation of displaced populations in India during 1985-1988 and later during 1995–96.<ref name="OdishaBytes"/>

== Bibliography ==
* ''Folklore of Orissa'', National Library of the Netherlands Sudoc [ABES], France Library of Congress/NACO
* ''Gods, kings and the caste system in India & other essays'', Library of Congress/NACO (2013)
* ''Knowledge for actions: a treatise in anthropology'', National Library of France
* ''People and cultural traditions of Orissa : civilization, society & worldview'', NII (Japan)
* ''Resettlement, impoverishment, and reconstruction in India : development for the deprived'', Sudoc [ABES], France Library of Congress/NACO
* ''Science, culture, and development: Prof. L.K. Mahapatra felicitation volume'', NII (Japan) National Library of Israel Library of Congress/NACO
* ''State, society and religion: cultural historical comparative perspectives of Southeast Asia'', Sudoc [ABES], France
* ''The contours of social welfare'', National Library of Israel Library of Congress/NACO (1974)
* ''Towards rethinking strategy of tribal development'', Library of Congress/NACO
* ''Tribal development in India: myth and reality''
* ''Tribal transformation and cultural integration: India and Odisha''

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
{{Commons cat|Lakshman Kumar Mahapatra}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahapatra, Lakshman Kumar}}
[[Category:1929 births]]
[[Category:2020 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian educators]]
[[Category:Indian anthropologists]]
[[Category:University of Calcutta alumni]]
[[Category:University of Hamburg alumni]]
[[Category:Utkal University faculty]]
[[Category:People from Balasore district]]
[[Category:People from Odisha by district|Balasore]]
[[Category:People from Odisha by occupation|anthropologist]]
[[Category:Scholars from Odisha]]

Lakshman Kumar Mahapatra - Revision history

->Red Director at 19:18, 16 July 2021