Sudhir Chakraborty (1934-2020) *86

was a Bengali educationist and essayist. He made a vast contribution in Bengal's folk culture development and research. was a Bengali educationist and essayist. He made a vast contribution in Bengal's folk culture development and research.

Sudhir Chakravarti was born on 19 September 1934 at Shibpur. His father's name was Ramaprasad Chakravarti and his mother Beenapani Chakravarti. He was the youngest of the nine sons of Ramaprasad. Due to the fear of the Japanese bombardings in Calcutta, Chakravarti's father had shifted to Dignagar, Nadia, (where they had ancestral lands as Zamindars) from Shibpur, Howrah in his childhood. After that his family came to Krishnanagar, Nadia. Chakravarti completed his studies in Calcutta University and in 1966 married Nivedita Chakravarti. Chakravarti is known for his research works on Folk religion, Lalan Fakir and Cultural Anthropology in Bengal. He spent 30 years researching the folk culture by traveling to different villages all over the West Bengal. He was a professor of Bengali literature since 1958 to 1994, but even after retirement kept on teaching until 2011. Chakravarti worked in Krishnagar Government College, guest lecturer of Jadavpur University and was also associated with the Institute of Development Studies, Kolkata. He wrote and edited more than 85 books on various subjects like music, art, folk-religion, cultural anthropology. He was the editor of Bengali literary Magazine Dhrubapada.