Munier Chowdhury 95th birthday谷歌涂鸦标志标志

Munier Chowdhury 95th birthday谷歌涂鸦标志

27 November 2020

Today’s Doodle celebrates the 95th birthday of Bangladeshi playwright, educator, linguist, literary critic, stage actor, and political activist Munier Chowdhury, who is widely considered a pioneer of the country’s modern Bangla drama. Renowned for plays like Kabar (The Grave, 1952) and Roktakto Prantor (The Bloody Meadow, 1959), Chowdhury dedicated his life to the promotion of the Bangla language, its national identity, and the fight against repression in all its forms.

Shaheed Munier Chowdhury was born on this day in 1925 in the town of Manikganj, British India (now Bangladesh), and from a young age he impressed his family with his precocious wit. Following his first of multiple master’s degrees, he became a professor in the English and Bangla departments of Dhaka University in 1950.

In 1952, Chowdhury was imprisoned for his activism related to the Language Movement, an ultimately successful campaign to have Bangla recognized as one of Pakistan’s official languages. While detained he completed one of his greatest works, Kabar—a surrealist ode to the struggles of the movement. Throughout the rest of his life, Chowdhury maintained his success as a writer of short stories and plays while serving as a champion of nationalist and cultural causes. A committed torchbearer for the Bangla language, he also helped to design an improved Bangla typewriter keyboard in the mid-’60s.

In 1980, the Bangladeshi government posthumously awarded Chowdhury the Independence Day Award—the nation’s highest state honor.

Happy birthday, Munier Chowdhury, and thank you for all of your work to uplift and preserve Bengali culture!