Maitreyi Devi is a famous Indian poet and novelist from Bengal who reached the peak of her fame in the late twentieth century for her Bengali autobiographical novel Na Hanyate (It Will Not Die: A Romance), for which she was awarded Sahitya Akademi Award. She died on January 29, 1989.
Wiki/Biography
Maitreyi Devi was born on Tuesday, September 10, 1914, in Chittagong, Bengal Territory, British India (now Chittagong, Bangladesh). He was 74 years old. Her zodiac sign is Virgo. She grew up in Kolkata and was raised by Vaidya parents. Her love of literature was instilled in her by her father.
Maitreyi Devi childhood
She attended St. John’s Parish Girls’ High School, Calcutta (now Kolkata) and graduated from Calcutta University Chaugamaya Devi College. Maitreya was a student and disciple of Rabindranath Tagore, and the preface to her first collection of poems was written by Tagore. The book was published in 1930, when she was 16 years old.
family and caste
Maitreyi Devi belongs to the Vaidya family of Bengal. Vaidya or Baidya are a caste of Ayurvedic doctors who are considered a Hindu community that settled in Bengal.
Parents and siblings
Her father, Surendranath Dasgupta, was an Indian scholar of Sanskrit and philosophy. Her mother, Himani Madhuri Rai, is the sister of Himanshu Rai, an Indian actor and director and founder of Bombay Talkies Studios.
Maitreyi Devi’s father Surendranath Dasgupta
Maitreya has 5 siblings, 2 sisters and 3 brothers. Professors Chitrita Devi (Gupta) (1919-2006), Sumitra Majumdar (died in 2008), Subhayu Dasgupta, Sugata Dasgupta and Subhachari Dasgupta. Chitrita Devi was also a writer and all others were valuable nation builders.
husband and children
Maitreyi Devi married renowned scientist Dr. Manmohan Sen in 1934 and they had two children. Her daughter Madhusree Dasgupta has a degree in philosophy and founded a school called Dolna.
Relationships/Affairs
Maitreyi Devi had an affair with a Romanian man, Mircea Eliade. He was invited by her father, whom she met when she was 16 years old. Eliade was 23 years old at the time. After Maitreya’s father Surendranath Dasgupta learned of their close relationship, he asked Eliad to leave and not to contact Maitreya again; however, despite not knowing the other person’s Whereabouts, Maitreyi Devi unexpectedly met him again in Chicago, when she happened to be giving a lecture at the same university where Mircea was a professor. This rekindled their relationship.
Mircea Eliade, Romanian, beloved of Maitreyi Devi
Signature/Autograph
Profession
writer
Maitreyi Devi is best known for her work Na Hanyate or It Doesn’t Die: A Romance. Published in 1974, the book was a response to Mircea Eliade’s novel Maitreyi, which was published in 1933 but came to the attention of Maitreyi Devi in the 1970s. This semi-autobiographical novel tells the story of the romantic relationship between Mircha and Maitri Devi during Eliade’s visit to India. It was originally written in Bengali and has been translated into several languages including French, Spanish, German and Romanian. In 1976, Maitreyi Devi was awarded the Sahitya Akedemi Award.
Bengali cover of the book, Na Hanyate, by Maitreyi Devi
Maitri believed that Eliade’s description of their romance was exaggerated and sensational and lacked factual basis. In 1994, “It Won’t Die” and “Bengal Nights” were republished as companion volumes by the University of Chicago Press.
Other works
Maitreyi Devi wrote many books and poems in Bengali. Two others worth noting are:
- Mumput Rabindranath (Tagore by the Fireside) (1961)
- Rabindranath – The man behind the poetry (1973)
dispute
After Eliade’s novel “Maitreyi” (also known by its French title “La Nuit Bengali”) and Maitreyi Devi’s response story in her book “Na Hanyate”, about the relationship between Mircea Eliade and Maitreyi Devi The incident that rekindled the romantic relationship sparked a lot of controversy. written. The books were written 40 years apart, sparking debate over whether their relationship was sexual.
Eliade Mircea and Maitreyi Devi
Awards
- Na Hanyate won the Writers Guild of India Medal (1975)
- Won the Sahitya Akademi Award (1976)
die
Maitreyi Devi died on January 29, 1989.
Facts/Trivia
- She is the most famous Indian woman in Romania and is the protagonist of “Bengal Nights”.
- Rabindranath Tagore lived in Maitreyi Devi’s house in Mungpu, near Kalimpong, which was allotted to her husband. The house later became Rabindra Bhavan (museum). Tagore wrote his famous poem “Janamdin” here. Maitri recorded this stay in a memoir titled “Mongpute Rabindranath”.
Maitreyi Devi House in Mongpu, where Rabindranath Tagore stayed
- In 1988, Bengali Nights was adapted into the film Bengali Nights, starring Hugh Grant and Supriya Pathak. Maitreyi Devi raised doubts about the film and insisted on changing the name of her character Maitreyi to Gayatri, thereby delaying the release of the film. Production.
- She is also an excellent singer. In 1932, she recorded the song “Madhukale El Holi”, with lyrics and music by Atul Prasad Sen.
- Maitreyi Devi is also remembered as a social worker. She founded an organization called Khelaghar for orphans in refugee camps.
- She enjoyed farming, raising fish, sheep, cattle, and poultry.
- The book “Maitreyi” has many names because it has been adapted in many different languages. Best known for its French adaptation, Bengali Nights. Its English adaptation is titled Bengali Nights.
- She founded the Committee for the Promotion of Community Harmony (1964)
- Maitreyi Devi becomes vice-president of All India Women’s Coordination Council
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education