Annadashankar Roy

Annadashankar Ray was a renowned Bengali poet and essayist. He was born in Dhenkanal in Orissa. He graduated in English from Ravenshaw College. He topped the list of Indian Civil Service examinees in 1927. After serving in various administrative posts, he sought voluntary retirement in 1951 to devote himself to literary pursuits. Ray was a Gandhian in politics, and Rabindranath Tagore inspired his literature. As an essayist, he was urbane and sophisticated and combined in his craft two different styles of prose, represented by Tagore and Pramatha Choudhury. He received the Vidyasagar Smriti Award from the state government and the Padma Bhushan. He was made a fellow of the Sahitya Akademi in 1989. The Visva Bharati conferred on him the Desikottama and an honorary D.Litt. He also received the Rabindra Puraskar, the Ananda Puraskar twice and the prestigious Zaibunnisa Award of Bangladesh.