Syed Ali Ahsan (Bengali: সৈয়দ আলী আহসান; 26 March 1922 – 25 July 2002) was a Bangladeshi poet, writer, literary critic, translator, and university academic. He was awarded the Ekushey Padak (1982) and the Independence Day Award (1987) by the Government of Bangladesh, and was selected as a National Professor of Bangladesh in 1987. He is also credited as the official English translator of the national anthem of Bangladesh.
Early Life and Education
Ahsan was born on 26 March 1922 (some sources give 1920) in the village of Alokdia in Magura district, then part of the Bengal Presidency in British India. He was born into a Bengali Muslim family of Syeds. His father, Syed Ali Hamed, was a school inspector. His mother, Syeda Kamrunnegar Khatun, was the daughter of Syed Mukarram Ali, a zamindar and pir of Agla village in Nawabganj, Dhaka. His brothers included Syed Ali Ashraf, a Cambridge-educated Islamic philosopher, and Syed Ali Naqi, also a professor. He grew up in an atmosphere steeped in Sufi traditions.
While studying at Armanitola Government High School in 1937, Ahsan published a poem titled "The Rose" in his school magazine. He later earned his BA (Hons) and MA in English from the University of Dhaka.
Career
Ahsan began his career teaching in a college before joining All India Radio in Calcutta in 1945 as a producer of literary programmes. He became a lecturer in the Department of Bengali at the University of Dhaka in 1949. In 1954, he joined the University of Karachi as a Reader in Bengali and head of the department. He published an English half-yearly magazine about Bengali language and literature from Karachi.
From 1960 to 1967, he served as Director of the Bangla Academy. In 1967, he became Professor of Bengali and Dean of the Faculty of Arts at the newly established University of Chittagong. During the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, he went to India and worked for nine months to build international support for independence.
After independence, he served as Vice-Chancellor of Jahangirnagar University (1972–1975), Vice-Chancellor of the University of Rajshahi (1975–1977), President of Bangla Academy (1977–1979), and Vice-Chancellor of Darul Ihsan University (1989–2002). He also served as an adviser to the Nobel Prize committee for literature from 1976 to 1982.
He was the first secretary-general of Pakistan PEN (established 1948) and later served as president of PEN Bangladesh after independence.
Literary Works
Poetry
- Onek Akas
- Ekok Shandhay Bosonto
- Sohosha Sochokit
- Amar Protidiner Shobdo
- Somudrei Jabo
Criticism
- Nazrul Islam (1954)
- Kobitar Kotha (1952)
- Iqbaler Kobita (editor, 1952)
- Rabindra Kabeyr Bhumika (1974)
Other Notable Books
- Our Heritage (1948)
- Bangla Sahityer Itibrtta – Adhunik Kal (with Muhammad Abdul Hai, 1956)
- Kavyasamagra (1974)
- German Sahitya (1976)
- America: Amar Kichhu Katha (2002)
- Bangla Sahityer Itihas – Prachinyug (2001)
- Bangla Sahityer Itihas – Madhyayug (2001)
Translations
- Oedipus
- Whitemaner Kobita (translations of Walt Whitman's poetry)
- Premer Kavita (French translation: Poems d'amour by Claire and Yvan Goll, 1959)
Awards and Honours
- Bangla Academy Literary Award (1967)
- Ekushey Padak (1982)
- Independence Day Award (1987)
- Officer de L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (France, 1992)
- Special Honours Certificate at the World Hindi Conference, Nagpur (1974)
Death
Ahsan died on 25 July 2002 in Dhaka, Bangladesh. He was buried next to the Jahangirnagar University Mosque with national honour.
