Michael Madhusudan Dutt

Michael Madhusudan Dutt, or Michael Madhusudan Dutta, (25 January 1824 – 29 June 1873) was Bengali poet and dramatist.  He was the first great poet of modern Bangla literature.Michael Madhusudan Dutta : Profile of an Epic Poet Compiled by Aparna Chatterjee He was educated at the Hindu College, Kolkata. In 1843, he became a Christian. He was born in Sagordari, a village in Keshobpur Upozila, Jashore District, East Bengal (now in Bangladesh). He was a pioneer of Bengali drama. His famous work Meghnad Badh Kavya, is a tragic Novel, centring round the heroic figure of Indrajit, Ravan's son. It has nine cantos and is exceptional in Bengali literature both in terms of style and content. He also wrote poems about the sorrows and pains of love as spoken by women.  

From an early age, Dutt wanted to be an Englishman in form and manner. In later life, he regretted his attraction to England and the Occident.  He wrote lovingly of his homeland in his poems and sonnets from this period.

His early writings were in English, but they were unsuccessful. He turned, reluctantly at first, to Bengali. His main works, written mostly between 1858 and 1862, include prose drama, long narrative poems, and lyrics. His first play, Sarmistha (1858), was well received. His poetical works are Tilottamasambhab (1860), a narrative poem on the story of Sunda and Upasunda; Meghnad Badh (1861), his most important piece, an epic on the Rāmāyaṇa theme; Brajangana (1861), a cycle of lyrics on the Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa theme; and Birangana (1862), a set of 21 epistolary poems on the model of Ovid’s Heroides. 

Dutt is widely said to be one of the greatest poets in Bengali literature.  He is the father of the Bengali sonnet. He was the first to make what came to be called amitrakshar chhanda (blank verse). Dutt died in Kolkata, India on 29 June 1873."Michael Madhusudan Dutta" , Calcuttaweb

References

Other websites

Category:Bangladeshi culture
Category:Indian playwrights
Category:Indian Christians
Category:1824 births
Category:1873 deaths