Kuldeep Singh Deep at 20:49, 21 May 2024

2024-05-21T20:49:51Z

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{{Short description|Indian poet and translator (1925-2014)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Madan Lal Madhu
| image =
| imagesize =
| caption =
| birth_date = 1925
| birth_place = India
| death_date = 7 July 2014
| death_place = [[Moscow]], Russia
| restingplace =
| restingplacecoordinates =
| othername =
| occupation = Writer<br>Translator<br>Poet
| yearsactive =
| known for = Translation of Russian classics
| spouse = Tatyana
| domesticpartner =
| children = A son and a daughter
| parents =
| website =
| awards = [[Padma Shri]]<br>[[Medal of Pushkin]]<br>[[Order of Friendship]]
}}
'''Madan Lal Madhu''' (1925–2014) was an Indian poet and translator, known for his translations of [[Russian literature|Russian]] classics into [[Hindi]].<ref name="Renowned scholar Dr Madan Lal Madhu passes away">{{cite web | url=https://www.rbth.com/arts/2014/07/11/renowned_scholar_dr_madan_lal_madhu_passes_away_36629 | title=Renowned scholar Dr Madan Lal Madhu passes away | publisher=Russia and India report | date=11 July 2014 | access-date=October 6, 2015}}</ref> He was one of the founders of Hindustani Samaj, an Indian community in Moscow<ref name="Madhu: Portrait of a cross-cultural translator">{{cite web | url=https://www.rbth.com/articles/2011/03/16/madhu_portrait_of_a_cross-cultural_translator_12294 | title=Madhu: Portrait of a cross-cultural translator | publisher=Russia and India Report | date=16 March 2011 | access-date=October 6, 2015}}</ref> and a recipient of the [[Medal of Pushkin]] and the [[Order of Friendship]] of the former [[Soviet Union]].<ref name="Renowned scholar Dr Madan Lal Madhu passes away" /> The [[Government of India]] awarded him the fourth highest civilian award of [[Padma Shri]] in 1991.<ref name="Padma Awards">{{cite web|url=http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf |title=Padma Awards |publisher=Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India |date=2015 |access-date=July 21, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015193758/http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf |archive-date=October 15, 2015 }}</ref>

==Biography==
Madhu, born in 1925,<ref name="10 friends of Russian culture">{{cite web | url=http://rusnewsjournal.com/4/28459/ | title=10 friends of Russian culture | publisher=Rus News Journal | date=2015 | access-date=October 6, 2015}}</ref> secured his master's degree before starting his career as an academic, working as a teacher for 10 years, during which time he started writing plays, poems and literary criticisms.<ref name="Madhu: Portrait of a cross-cultural translator" /> He had early acquaintance with Russian culture when he secured his PhD, based on a comparative study of the works of [[Maxim Gorky]] and [[Premchand]].<ref name="Madhu: Portrait of a cross-cultural translator" /> In 1957, during the India visit of the then president of the now defunct [[Soviet Union]], [[Nikita Khrushchev]], he was invited to serve as a translator in Moscow, in view of his knowledge of Russian culture.<ref name="Madhu: Portrait of a cross-cultural translator" /> Moving to Moscow, he was entrusted with the job of translating the works of [[Karl Marx]] and [[Vladimir Lenin]] into [[Hindi languages|Hindi]] which he did by referring to the English language translations of the original, as he did not know the [[Russian language]] then. Soon, he learned the language so that he could refer to the original works and, apart from [[Communism|Communist]] literature, started translating [[Russian literature|Russian]] classics.<ref name="Madhu: Portrait of a cross-cultural translator" />

Madhu translated over 100 Russian classics into Hindi language, including [[War and Peace]] and [[Anna Karenina]] of [[Leo Tolstoy]], poems of [[Chukovsky]] and [[Marshak]] and several works of [[Pushkin]], [[Dostoyevsky]], [[Gogol]], [[Turgenev]], [[Kuprin]], [[Lermontov]], [[Mayakovsky]] and [[Chekhov]].<ref name="10 friends of Russian culture" /><ref name="Indo-Soviet bridges, through books">{{cite web | url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/indosoviet-bridges-through-books/article1377359.ece | title=Indo-Soviet bridges, through books | work=The Hindu | date=16 November 2008 | access-date=October 6, 2015}}</ref> Besides, he translated the works of [[Premchand]] into Russian language<ref name="Renowned Scholar Madan Lal Madhu Dead">{{cite web | url=http://www.outlookindia.com/news/article/renowned-scholar-madan-lal-madhu-dead/849342 | title=Renowned Scholar Madan Lal Madhu Dead | publisher=Outlook | date=11 July 2014 | access-date=October 6, 2015}}</ref> and published two volumes of poems, ''Ek Do Teen''<ref name="Ek Do Teen">{{cite book | title=Ek Do Teen | publisher=Amazon | author=Madan Lal Madhu | isbn=978-9350005507| id= {{ASIN|9350005506|country=in}} }}</ref> and ''Aise Ladke Bhi Hote Hain'',<ref name="Aise Ladke Bhi Hote Hain">{{cite book | url=http://www.vaniprakashan.in/details.php?prod_id=1989 | title=Aise Ladke Bhi Hote Hain | publisher=Vani Prakashan | author=Madan Lal Madhu | isbn=978-93-5000-553-8}}</ref> several plays and literary articles.<ref name="Madhu: Portrait of a cross-cultural translator" /> He also wrote two memoirs,<ref name="Renowned scholar Dr Madan Lal Madhu passes away" /> ''Yadoon ke Dhundle Ujale Chehre'' is one among them.<ref name="Noted Translator of Russian Literature Prof. Madan Lal Madhu Felicitated at the RCSC, New Delhi">{{cite web | url=http://ind.rs.gov.ru/en/node/5742 | title=Noted Translator of Russian Literature Prof. Madan Lal Madhu Felicitated at the RCSC, New Delhi | publisher=Russian Mission in India | date=2015 | access-date=October 6, 2015 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151006220705/http://ind.rs.gov.ru/en/node/5742 | archive-date=October 6, 2015 }}</ref> He was one of the founders of the '' Hindustani Samaj'', an Indo-Russian cultural forum based in Moscow and served as its president for over 30 years.<ref name="Indo-Soviet bridges, through books" /> The Indian Embassy in Moscow celebrated his fifty years of service in the city in 2008<ref name="Indo-Soviet bridges, through books" /> and the Russian Centre of Science and Culture, New Delhi honoured him on the occasion of 55 years of Russian life in 2013.<ref name="Russian Embassy in India report">{{cite web | url=http://rusembindia.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5805%3Anoted-translator-of-russian-literature-prof-madan-lal-madhu-felicitated-at-the-rcsc&catid=4%3A2013-01-07-16-57-55&lang=en | title=Russian Embassy in India report | publisher=Russian Embassy in India | date=11 March 2013 | access-date=October 6, 2015}}</ref>

The Government of India awarded him the civilian honour of the [[Padma Shri]] in 1991.<ref name="Padma Awards" /> A recipient of the [[Medal of Pushkin]], he was awarded him the [[Order of Friendship]] of the Russian Federation in 2001.<ref name="10 friends of Russian culture" /> He died on 7 July 2014, aged 88, in the Russian capital, following a cardiac arrest.<ref name="Renowned Scholar Madan Lal Madhu Dead" /> He was a divorcee and had a son and a daughter.<ref name="Renowned Scholar Madan Lal Madhu Dead" /> Hindustani Samaj, has instituted an annual literary competition, ''Padma Shri Madan Lal Madhu Translation competition'' and the Embassy of India in Moscow has named a corner of its library as ''Padma Shri Madan Lal Madhu corner'', in his honour.{{Citation needed|date=November 2020}}

==See also==
{{Div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Leo Tolstoy]]
* [[Chukovsky]]
* [[Marshak]]
* [[Pushkin]]
* [[Dostoyevsky]]
* [[Gogol]]
* [[Turgenev]]
* [[Kuprin]]
* [[Lermontov]]
* [[Mayakovsky]]
* [[Chekhov]]
{{div col end}}
{{portal|India|Literature}}

==References==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

{{authority control}}
{{Padma Shri Award Recipients in Literature & Education}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Madhu, Madan Lal}}
[[Category:1925 births]]
[[Category:2014 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian male poets]]
[[Category:Indian male dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:Indian male essayists]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian translators]]
[[Category:Indian male journalists]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Medal of Pushkin]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian poets]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian essayists]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian male writers]]

Madan Lal Madhu - Revision history

Kuldeep Singh Deep at 20:49, 21 May 2024