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Sukumar Sen

スクマール・セン

Sukumar Sen

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1900-01-16 （Gotan, Bengal Presidency, British India）
Died
1992-03-03 （Calcutta (now Kolkata), West Bengal, India） age 92
Nationality
Indian
Languages
Bengali, English, Pāli, Prakrit, Sanskrit
Residence History
Gotan (birthplace) → Burdwan (education / early life) → Calcutta/Kolkata (university career and later life)

Career

Occupations
linguist, historian, university professor, author
Active Years
1921-1992
Affiliations
University of Calcutta (Department of Comparative Philology), The Asiatic Society, Kolkata, Sahitya Akademi (honorary fellow)
Memberships
Sahitya Akademi (honorary fellow)
Influenced By
Suniti Kumar Chatterji, Irach Jehangir Sorabji Taraporewala

Education

Burdwan Raj College
Degree: F.A.
Period: 1917–1919
Year of Graduation: 1919
Country: British India
College affiliated to University of Calcutta at the time
Sanskrit College (Calcutta)
Sanskrit
Degree: First class honours (Sanskrit)
Period: 1919–1921
Year of Graduation: 1921
Country: British India
Graduated with first class honours in Sanskrit
University of Calcutta
Comparative Philology / Department of Comparative Philology
Degree: PhD (Premchand Roychand Scholarship)
Period: 1921–1923
Year of Graduation: 1923
Country: British India
Topped Comparative Philology examinations; awarded Premchand Roychand Scholarship

Awards

Royal Asiatic Society Jubilee Gold Medal
1984
Organization: Royal Asiatic Society (London)
Result: 受賞
Rabindra Puraskar
1963
Organization: Government of West Bengal
Result: 受賞
Ananda Puraskar
1966
Organization: Ananda Publishers
Result: 受賞
Ananda Puraskar
1984
Organization: Ananda Publishers
Result: 受賞
Vidyasagar Puraskar
1981
Result: 受賞
Desikottam
1982
Result: 受賞
Padma Bhushan
1990
Organization: Government of India
Result: 受賞
Jadunath Sarkar Medal
Organization: The Asiatic Society, Kolkata
Result: 受賞
Sahitya Akademi Fellowship (honorary)
1973
Organization: Sahitya Akademi
Result: 受賞
Ashutosh Memorial Gold Medal
Organization: University/academic bodies
Result: 受賞
Griffith Memorial Prize
Result: 受賞（複数回）
University Gold Medal
Organization: University of Calcutta
Result: 受賞
Sarojini Medal
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Bangla Sahityer Itihas (History of Bengali Literature) — 5 vols

1939 literary history / criticism

A comprehensive five-volume history of Bengali literature, offering systematic stylistic descriptions and historical context. Rabindranath Tagore wrote a preface for the work.

Bengali literary historystylisticshistorical philology
Translations
  • English edition published by Sahitya Akademi (1960)

An Etymological Dictionary of Bengali, c.1000–1800 A.D.

1971 etymology / reference

A large-scale etymological dictionary of Bengali (in two volumes) detailing historical origins and developments of words.

etymologyhistorical linguistics

An Outline Syntax of Buddhistic Sanskrit

1928 comparative philology / syntax

A pioneering study analysing the syntax of Old and Middle Indo-Aryan (Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit) from a historical perspective.

syntaxhistorical linguistics

A Comparative Grammar of Middle Indo-Aryan

1960 grammar / comparative linguistics

An academic work organizing morphology and syntax of Middle Indo-Aryan languages in a comparative framework.

comparative grammarMiddle Indo-Aryan

Bibliography

  • Bangla Sahityer Itihas (History of Bengali Literature)
  • Bhashar Itibritta
  • An Etymological Dictionary of Bengali
  • An Outline Syntax of Buddhistic Sanskrit
  • The Use of the Cases in Vedic Prose
  • A Comparative Grammar of Middle Indo-Aryan
  • Diner Pare Din Je Gelo (autobiography)
  • Bangla Sthannaam
  • Numerous other scholarly articles, editions and compilations

Translations of Works

  • History of Bengali Literature (English edition, Sahitya Akademi, 1960)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
scholarly and systematic prosedetailed annotation and comparative analysis based on primary sources
Recurring Motifs
comparisons of mythology and Purāṇic textshistorical development of Bengalifolk and regional studies

Legacy

Sukumar Sen is a leading scholar in Bengali literary history and historical linguistics; his works on stylistics, etymology and historical syntax of Indo-Aryan languages are seminal. He received numerous national and international honours and a college in his native region was named after him.

Academic Societies

  • Royal Asiatic Society
  • The Asiatic Society, Kolkata
  • Sahitya Akademi

Archives

  • Archives of The Asiatic Society, Kolkata

Trivia

  • Rabindranath Tagore wrote a preface to his Bangla Sahityer Itihas.
  • A college in his native Gotan was named after him (Acharya Sukumar Sen Mahavidyalaya).
  • Known for combining comparative philology with Bengali literary history.