Dhan Gopal Mukerji (1890 – 1936) was an Indian writer living in the United States. He contributed to the interpretation of Hindu folklore, scriptures and philosophy. He was the first South Asian immigrant to have a successful career in the United States and was designated a man of letters. He has published numerous works in translation, plays, novels, philosophy, children’s stories, dramas and poetry collections. On July 14, 1936, six months after suffering a nervous breakdown, Dhan Gopal Mukerji hanged himself in his New York City apartment.
Wiki/Biography
Dhan Gopal Mukerji was born on Sunday, July 6, 1890 (he died aged 46) in a village on the edge of the Kajangal forest near Calcutta, British India (now Kolkata, India). Dhan Gopal Mukerji had to become a priest as a teenager because it was the custom of his strict priestly family. After a year of ascetic life, he left the ascetic life and began studying at Calcutta University. In his autobiography, Caste and Exile, he wrote—
You can’t be a priest if you don’t understand how people live, and the best way to understand people is to beg from them. So the priests had a rule that they had to go from house to house begging before performing the ceremony in the temple. But at 14, letting yourself go in the world – even after taking a vow – can feel pretty lonely. “
In 1910, Dhan Gopal Mukerji traveled to Japan to study industrial machinery and textiles at the University of Tokyo. In 1910, he studied for three years at the University of California, Berkeley, and later transferred to Stanford University, where he received a bachelor’s degree in metaphysics in 1914. In the 1920s, Dhan Gopal Mukerji moved to New York City.
family and caste
He was born into a Brahmin family.
Parents and siblings
Dhan Gopal Mukerji’s father Bhuban Goswami Mukerji was a lawyer but later in life he decided not to continue due to health issues Worked as a lawyer, but was obsessed with music. He also served as a priest in the village temple. Her mother’s name is Kisori. Dhan Gopal Mukherjee’s brother Jadugopal Mukherjee is a doctor by profession. He devoted his life to India’s freedom struggle. He was imprisoned for four years, from 1923 to 1927. Dhan Gopal Mukerji later wrote a memoir about Jadu Gopal titled “My Brother’s Face”.
Jadugopal Mukherjee, brother of Dhan Gopal Mukherjee
wife and children
In 1918, he married Ethel Ray Dugan, an American woman, artist and educator. They were blessed with a son.
Ethel Ray Dugan, wife of Dhan Gopal Mukerji
religion
He believes in Hinduism.
Signature/Autograph
Profession
In 1922, Dhan Gopal Mukerji published his first children’s book, Kali the Elephant. In 1927 he published Homosexuality: A Pigeon’s Story. His other children’s books include Gond the Hunter (1928), The Herd Chief (1929), Hindu Fables for the Little Child (1929), Rama, the Indian Hero (1930), and The Monkey The Master” (1932). “The Bad Side: The Tiger’s Story” published in 1936 was his last children’s work. Some of Dhan Gopal Mukerji’s other famous works include Answers from Mother India’s Son (1928), Devotionals from the Hindu Bible (1929), Disillusioned India (1930) and The Silent Face (1928). 1926). Dhan Gopal Mukerji’s autobiography Caste and Exile was published in 1923.
honor
In 1928 he was awarded the Newbery Medal by the American Library Association for “One Neck: A Pigeon’s Story” (1927).
die
On July 14, 1936, Dhan Gopal Mukerji hanged himself in his New York City apartment. He was 46 when he committed suicide.
Facts/Trivia
- Dhan Gopal described his childhood in his autobiography Caste and Outcast (1923), writing:
I went to Christian school and studied the New Testament carefully. Within a year, I gave up being a pastor because I realized I wasn’t cut out for my position. After all I have experienced, this may seem strange to a Westerner, but to a Hindu it is not. A Brahmin boy often performed priestly duties for a period of time, but if he found that this was not his calling, he should resign and seek the Lord in other ways. We believe the ultimate end is holiness, not vocation. “
- After the First World War, Dhan Gopal Mukerji returned to India from New York. He actively participated in the Indian independence movement.
- A new edition of his autobiography, Caste and Exile, was published in 2002.
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education