Humayun Ahmed

Humayun Ahmed হুমায়ূন আহমেদ
Born	(1948-11-13)13 November 1948 Mohongonj, Netrokona, East Bengal (now Bangladesh)
Died	19 July 2012(2012-07-19) (aged 63)[1] New York City, United States
Resting place	Nuhash Palli, Pirujali Village, Gazipur District, Bangladesh[2]
Occupation	Writer, film director, professor of Chemistry
Nationality	Bangladeshi
Ethnicity	Bengali
Education	Ph. D. in polymer chemistry
Alma mater	University of Dhaka North Dakota State University
Genres	Novel, short story, drama, screenplay, autobiography, column
Subjects	Magic realism, social life, nature's mystery, wish-fulfillment
Notable work(s)	Jostnya O Jononeer Golpo (The Story of a Mother and a Moonlit Night)
Notable award(s)	Bangla Academy Award Ekushey Padak
Spouse(s)	Gultekin Ahmed (1973–2003; divorced) Meher Afroz Shaon (2005–2012; till his death)
Children	Nova, Sheela, Bipasha, Nuhash, Nishad, Ninit
Relative(s)	Muhammad Zafar Iqbal (brother) Ahsan Habib (brother) Sufia Haider (sister)[3] Momtaz Shahid (sister)[3] Rukhsana Ahmed (sister)[3]

Humayun Ahmed (Bengali: হুমায়ূন আহমেদ; 13 November 1948 – 19 July 2012) was a Bangladeshi author, dramatist, screenwriter, playwright and filmmaker.^[4] Dawn referred to him as the cultural legend of Bangladesh.^[5] Humayun reached peak of his fame with the publication of his novel Nondito Noroke (In Blissful Hell) in 1972, which remains one of his most famous works,^[6] winning admiration from literary critics, including Dr. Ahmed Sarif. He wrote over 200 fiction and non-fiction books, all of which were bestsellers in Bangladesh.^[7] In recognition to the works of Humayun, Times of India wrote Humayun was a custodian of the Bangladeshi literary culture whose contribution single-handedly shifted the capital of Bengali literature from Kolkata to Dhaka without any war or revolution.^[8][9] Ahmed's writing style was characterized as magic realism.^[10] Sunil Gangopadhyay described him as the most popular writer in the Bengali language for a century ^[11] and according to him, Ahmed was even more popular than Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay.^[12] Ahmed's books have been the top sellers at the Ekushey Book Fair during the 1990s and 2000s.^[13]

Biography

Early life

Humayun Ahmed was born on 13 November 1948 in Mohongonj, Netrokona, but his village home is Kutubpur, Mymensingh,^[14] Bangladesh (then East Pakistan). His father, Faizur Rahman Ahmed, a police officer and writer, was killed by Pakistani military during the liberation war of Bangladesh in 1971, and his mother is Ayesha Foyez. Humayun's younger brother, Muhammed Zafar Iqbal, a university professor, is also a writer of mostly science fiction genre and a newspaper columnist.^[15] Another brother, Ahsan Habib, is a painter and the editor of Unmad, a cartoon magazine.

Education and early career

Ahmed went to schools in Sylhet, Comilla, Chittagong, Dinajpur and Bogra as his father lived in different places upon official assignment. Memories of these places have often been depicted in his writings. Ahmed passed SSC exam from Bogra Zilla School in 1965. He stood second in the merit list in Rajshahi Education Board. He passed HSC exam from Dhaka College in 1967. He studied Chemistry in Dhaka University and earned BSc (Honors) and MSc with First Class distinction.

Upon graduation Ahmed joined Bangladesh Agricultural University as a lecturer. After six months he joined Dhaka University as a faculty of the Department of Chemistry. Later he attended North Dakota State University for his PhD studies. He grew his interest in Polymer Chemistry and earned his PhD in that subject. He returned to Bangladesh and resumed his teaching career in Dhaka University. In mid 1990s he left the faculty job to devote all his time to writing and film production.

Marriages and Personal Life

In 1973, Humayun Ahmed married Gultekin, granddaughter of Principal Ibrahim Khan.^[16][17]

They had three daughters — Nova, Sheela, Bipasha and one son — Nuhash. Humayun started to have an affair with Meher Afroz Shaon from middle of 1990s. Shaon is a TV actress and then friend of his second daughter.^[17] Later, in 2003, Humayun divorced Gultekin and married Shaon in 2005. From the second marriage he had two sons — Nishad and Ninit.^[18]

Death

In 2011 Ahmed had been diagnosed with colorectal cancer. He died on 19 July 2012 at 11.20 PM BST at Bellevue Hospital in New York City.^[19] He was buried in Nu hash Palli.^[2]

Career

Television and film

His first television drama was "Prothom Prohor" (first moment) in 1983, directed by Nawazesh Ali Khan.^[20] His first drama serial was Ei Shob Din Ratri (Tale of our daily lives). It was followed by the comedy series Bohubrihi, the historical drama series Ayomoy, and the urban drama series Kothao Keu Nei (There is no one in anywhere). The last one featured a fictional character of an idealistic gang leader named Baker Bhai, who was wrongly convicted and executed.

Ahmed directed films based on his own stories. His first film, "Aguner Parashmoni", based on the liberation war, won the National Film Award in total eight categories, including Best Picture and Best Director.^[16][17] The theme of the Liberation War often came across in his stories, often drawing upon Ahmed's memories of that war and his father's execution during the war. Ahmed's film Shyamal Chhaya was based on the liberation war of 1971.^[21]

Ahmed also wrote songs for few of his own films and plays. Some of the notables are titled as Ami Aaj Bhejabo Chokh Somudrer Joley, Chadni Poshor Ratey and Amaaar Achey Jol.

His 2012 film Ghetuputra Kamola was selected as the Bangladeshi entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the 85th Academy Awards, but it did not make the final shortlist.^[22]

In 2012 he was appointed as a special adviser to the Bangladesh Mission in the United Nations.^[23]

Works

List of Books

Films

Other interests

In 1987 Humayun Ahmed founded an estate called Nuhash Polli near Pijulia village, in Gazipur Sadar Upazila of Gazipur District,^[24] which grew to cover 40 bigha^[24] (approximately 14 acres). He would spend much of his time at the estate when he was in Bangladesh, formed a collection of statues there by local artist Asaduzzaman Khan, and of plants from around the world, particularly medicinal and fruit-bearing trees.^[24]

Awards

• Lekhak Shibir Prize (1973)
• Bangla Academy Award (1981)
• Shishu Academy Award
• Jainul Abedin Gold Medal
• Michael Madhusudan Medal (1987)
• Bacsas Prize (1988)
• Humayun Qadir Memorial Prize (1990)
• National Film Award (Best Story 1993, Best Film 1994, Best Dialogue 1994)
• Ekushey Padak (1994)
• Sheltech Award (2007)^[25]

References

Further reading

• "Humayun Ahmed, 1948-". The South Asian Literary Recordings Project. The Library of Congress. October 6, 2010. Retrieved March 12, 2012. 
• Tamanna Khan (27 July 2012). "People's Writer". TheStar:Stories Behind the News 11 (30). 
• "Books of Humayun Ahmed". 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Humayun Ahmed.

• Humayun Ahmed at the Internet Movie Database