Anisuzzaman (18 February 1937 – 14 May 2020)[1][2] was a Bangladeshi academic of Bengali

literature. He was an activist who took part in the Language Movement (1952), participated in Mass
Uprising (1969), and took part in the War of Liberation (1971). He was a member of the Planning
Commission to the Government of Bangladesh during the Bangladesh liberation war and a member
of the National Education Commission set up by the government after liberation. He was inducted as
a National Professor by the Government of Bangladesh in 2018.[3]

Contents

 1Early life and education

 2Career
 3Activism
 4Literary works
 5Awards
 6Personal life
 7References

Early life and education[edit]

Anisuzzaman was born in Calcutta in 1937. Along with his family, he moved to Khulna after the 1947
partition. After about a year they moved to Dhaka.[4] His father ATM Moazzem was a homeopathy
practitioner and his grandfather, Sheikh Abdur Rahim, was a journalist and writer.[5] His first piece of
writing, a story, was published in Nowbahar, a literary magazine, in 1950. He completed his HSC
from Jagannath College.[6] He obtained his bachelor's in 1956 and master's in 1957 in Bengali from
the University of Dhaka. At the university, he worked with Muhammad Shahidullah, Muhammad
Abdul Hye and Munier Chowdhury.[4] He completed his Ph.D. in 1962 at the age of 25 from the same
university.[6] He was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Chicago during 1964–65 and a
Commonwealth Academic Staff fellow at the University of London (1974–75).

Career[edit]

with the Prime Minister of BGD, Sheikh Hasina

Anisuzzaman served as a faculty member at the University of Dhaka during 1959–69, 1985–2003
and 2005–08. He taught Bengali at the University of Chittagong during 1969–85.[5] From 1978 to
1983, he was associated with research projects of the United Nations University. He was a visiting
fellow at the University of Paris (1994), North Carolina State University (1995) and University of
Calcutta (2010), and a visiting professor at the Visva-Bharati (2008–09, 2011).[6]
Anisuzzaman was a member of the Planning Commission to the Government of Bangladesh during
the Bangladesh liberation war and a member of the National Education Commission set up by the
government after liberation. He was responsible for the Bengali language part of the Constitution of
Bangladesh adopted on November 1972.[7] He served as Chairman of the Trustee Board of
the Nazrul Institute and has been the president of the Bangla Academy since 2011.[6]

Activism[edit]
Anisuzzaman took part in the Language Movement (1952), participated in Mass Uprising (1969),
took part in the War of Liberation (1971) and was the secretary of the Bangladesh Teachers'
Association in 1971. He was involved in the anti-autocracy movement (1990).
In 2015, Anisuzzaman received death threats from Islamic extremists.[8]

Literary works[edit]

 Muslim Manos O Bangla Sahitya (1964)[9]

 Munir Chowdhury (1975)
 Swaruper Sandhane (1976)[5]
 Adharo Sotoker Bangla Cithi (1983)
 Purono Bangla Gadya (1984)
 Aamar Ekattor (1997)[10]
 Muktijudho Ebong Tarpor (1998)
 Aamar Chokh (1999)
 Bangali Nari : Sahittye o Somaje (2000)
 Kaal Nirobodhi (2003)
 Factory correspondence and other Bengali Documents in the India office Library and Records
(1981)
 Creativity, Identity and Reality (1991)
 Cultural Pluralism (1993)
 Identity, Religion and Recent history (1995)

Awards[edit]

Anisuzzaman receiving the Padma Bhusan award from the Indian President Pranab Mukherjee

 Bangla Academy Literary Award for research (1970)

 Ekushey Padak, an award given by the State, for his contribution to education (1985)
 Ananda Puraskar for publishing a series of 14 cassettes titled Oitijjher Ongikar (1994)[11]
 Honorary D.Lit, Rabindra Bharati University, Calcutta (2005)
 Sarojini Basu Award, University of Calcutta (2008)[12]
 Pandit Iswarchandra Vidyasagar Gold Plaque, Asiatic Society of Kolkata (2011)[13]
 Padma Bhushan, on contribution of literature and education (2014)[14]
 Independence Day Award for literature in 2015 by the Government of Bangladesh[15]
 Nilkanta Sarkar Gold Medal, University of Dhaka
 Dawood Prize for literature, Pakistan Writers' Guild
 Star Lifetime Award (2016)[6]
 Ananda Puraskar for his autobiography Bipula Prithibi (The Vast World) (2017)[16]
 Jagattarini Medal, The University of Calcutta[17]
 Khan Bahadur Ahsanullah Gold Medal 2018 [18]

Personal life[edit]
Anisuzzaman was married to Siddiqua Zaman. He was an secular humanist, having lost faith in
organised religion during his youth (p 167, Kal nirobodhi, Anisuzzaman).
Anisuzzaman died on May 14, 2020 from multi organ failure at CMH Hospital, Dhaka