Mamata condoles demise of poet Alokeranjan Dasgupta

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday condoled the demise of Bengali poet Alokeranjan Dasgupta, who died in Germany on November 17.

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday expressed grief over the demise of Sahitya Academy-recipient Bengali poet Alokeranjan Dasgupta, who died on November 17 in Germany. He was 87.

Dasgupta, who had moved to Germany from Kolkata decades ago, died after a prolonged battle with multiple ailments at 9 pm (German local time), his family said.

"Saddened at the passing away of Sahitya Academy award-winning poet and translator Alokeranjan Dasgupta. My condolences to his family and admirers," the chief minister posted on her Twitter handle.

Born on October 6, 1933 in Kolkata, Dasgupta studied at Visva-Bharati in Shantiniketan, and then at St Xavier's College. He obtained a PhD for his studies on lyric in Indian poetry from the University of Calcutta.

He taught comparative literature at Jadavpur University for more than a decade.

Dasgupta has authored over 20 poetry books.

He translated many Bengali and Santal poems into German and English.

Later in life, he shifted to Germany and taught at Heidelberg University. The celebrated poet was also keenly involved in boosting Indo-German literary exchanges.

Dasgupta received the Sahitya Academy award in 1992 for his Marami Korat book of poems.

PTI