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{{short description|Indian poet and translator (1925–2006)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2014}}
{{infobox writer
| name = Manohar Rai Sardessai
| image = Manohar Rai Sardesai.jpg
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = 18 January 1925
| birth_place =
| death_date = {{death-date and age|22 June 2006|18 January 1925}}
| death_place =
| resting_place =
| language = [[Konkani language|Konkani]]
| nationality = {{ubl|
* Portuguese<br/>(until 1961)
* Indian (from 1961)}}
| education = [[Bombay University]]
| alma_mater =
| period =
| genre =
| subject =
| movement =
| notableworks =
| spouse =
| partner =
| children =
| relatives = [[Laxmanrao Sardessai]] (father)
| awards = {{ubl|
* [[Chevalier de l'Ordre des Palmes Académiques]] (1988)
* [[Sahitya Akademi Award]] (1980)}}
| signature =
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| website =
| influences =
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}}

'''Manohar Rai Sardesai''' (18 January 1925 – 22 June 2006) was an Indian [[Konkani people|Konkani]] poet, writer and French translator.<ref name="SA">{{Cite web |url=http://sahitya-akademi.gov.in/sahitya-akademi/library/meettheauthor/manohar_rai_sar_dessai.pdf |title=meet the author: ManoharRai SarDesai |date=28 December 1993 |website=Sahitya Akademi |access-date=20 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170205100325/http://sahitya-akademi.gov.in/sahitya-akademi/library/meettheauthor/manohar_rai_sar_dessai.pdf |archive-date=5 February 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=Goans>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7DJLxYBYA-YC&pg=PA272|title=Profiles of Eminent Goans, Past and Present|first=J. Clement|last=Vaz|author-link=J. Clement Vaz|date=3 January 1997|publisher=Concept Publishing Company|isbn=9788170226192}}</ref>
He received his ''Doctorat ès lettres françaises'' for his thesis "L'image de l'Inde en France" from the [[University of Sorbonne]]. He has been credited for an upsurge of modern Konkani poetry. Sardesai died in 2006.<ref name="NT">{{Cite web |url=http://www.navhindtimes.in/manoharrai-sardesais-french-connection/ |title=Manoharrai Sardesai's French Connection |website=[[The Navhind Times]] |access-date=20 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170205101655/http://www.navhindtimes.in/manoharrai-sardesais-french-connection/ |archive-date=5 February 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="IL">{{Cite journal |last=Mauzo |first=Damodar |author-link=Damodar Mauzo |title= The Poet Who Will Never Die |jstor=23340697 |journal=[[Indian Literature (journal)|Indian Literature]] |date=September–October 2006 |volume=50 |issue=5 (235) |pages=36–39}}</ref>

==Early life==
Manohar Rai Sardesai was born on 18 January 1925. He passed his matriculation examination in 1942 from the Bhatikar Model High School in [[Margão]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.bhatikarmodelschool.com/school-report/ |title=SCHOOL HISTORY – Bhatikar Model High School |access-date=20 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180426052004/http://www.bhatikarmodelschool.com/school-report/ |archive-date=26 April 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> He obtained a First Class First in Bachelor of Arts from the [[University of Bombay]] in 1947. He successfully completed his Master of Arts, also with the First Class First in French and in Marathi from the same university in 1949.<ref name="SA" /> He obtained his ''Doctorat ès lettres françaises'' in 1958 from the [[University of Sorbonne]], Paris and taught French in Bombay at the University of Bombay and the [[University of Goa]].

He was the son of the eminent short story writer [[Laxmanrao Sardessai|Lakshmanrao Sardesai]]. Being surrounded by books, he started writing at an early age and was known for his very direct and penetrating Konkani poetry. Sardesai broadcast songs, poems, talks, plays and features on [[All India Radio]] in [[Panaji]], Goa and [[Doordarshan]] in Bombay and Pune. He travelled all over Europe and India and wrote in Konkani, English, French, Portuguese and Marathi.

==Poems==
Sardesai was a member of the executive board, [[Sahitya Akademi]], representing [[Konkani language|Konkani]], and also wrote for the [[National Book Trust]] of India. Notable collections of his poems are ''Ayj re dholar podli bodi'' (1961), ''Goema tujya mogakhatir'' (1964), ''Jayat jage'' (1964), ''Jay punnyabhui, jai Bharat'' (1965), ''Bebyachem kazar'' (1965), ''Jayo juyo'' (1970) and ''Pisollim'' (1979).<ref name="SA" /> He also edited an anthology of poems for the [[Sahitya Akademi]], Delhi and published several works of prose, drama and children's literature. It was also Sardessai who introduced the two line poems called ‘tikli’.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Times |first=Navhind |date=2024-03-12 |title=An ode to Dr. Manohar Rai Sardessai {{!}} The Navhind Times {{!}} Goa News |url=https://www.navhindtimes.in/2024/03/12/magazines/buzz/an-ode-to-dr-manohar-rai-sardessai/ |access-date=2025-06-25 |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Translations==
He translated many works from French into Konkani. The translations of "La Vie de Vivekananda" by [[Romain Rolland]] in 1994 (Vivekananda) and "Les Mots" by [[Jean-Paul Sartre]] in 2000 ("Utram"), comprise some of his works. He also produced the ''Konkani-English Dictionary'' in 2004 and was Chief Editor for the four-volume ''Konkani Encyclopedia'', published by [[Goa University]] in 1999.

==Awards and honours==
The French Government conferred him with the title "[[Chevalier de l'Ordre des Palmes Académiques]]" in 1988, in recognition of his services to the French language and culture. Dr. Sardesai also won many awards for his literary contributions and in the teaching profession. Most notable among the awards was the [[Sahitya Akademi]], Delhi for ''Pisollim''.<ref name="SA" />

He chaired the 8th Session of the [[All India Konkani Parishad]] which was held at [[Margao]], Goa on 26 and 27 May 1962 – the first of its kind after [[Goa]] was liberated from Portuguese rule on 19 December 1961,<ref>Souvenir of 28th Session of the [[All India Konkani Parishad]], Goa, 2012</ref><ref name="SA" /> and later became president of Konkani Bhasha Mandal, Goa.

He was also a life member of "Alliance Française de Goa" and Founder President of the University Teachers' Association, Goa.<ref name="SA" />

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sardesai, Manohar Rai}}
[[Category:1925 births]]
[[Category:2006 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian male poets]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Konkani]]
[[Category:Chevaliers of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques]]
[[Category:Konkani-language poets]]
[[Category:Poets from Goa]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian poets]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian male writers]]

Manohar Rai Sardesai - Revision history

Sergkwi at 07:31, 1 December 2025