- Vishnu Kant Shastri
Vishnu Kant Shastri (
May 2 ,1929 —April 17 ,2005 ) was an Indian politician who served as the governor ofUttar Pradesh andHimachal Pradesh . He was also an academician, scholar, poet, philosopher, author, critic, orator, editor and administrator.Early life
A native of
Kolkata , Vishnu Kant Shastri completed his B.A.LLB and M.A. from theUniversity of Calcutta and chose to become a lecturer in Hindi. After 41 years, he retired asAcharya of the Hindi department of the University of Calcutta in 1994, marking the end of his academic career.Politics
Associated with
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh , he entered active politics and served as a member of theWest Bengal Legislative Assembly in 1977. He went on to become one of the founding members of theBharatiya Janata Party in 1980 and a member of theRajya Sabha in 1992.He was appointed Governor of Himachal Pradesh on
December 2 ,1999 , serving untilNovember 23 ,2000 and, the following day,November 24 , was sworn in as Governor of Uttar Pradesh, where he served until 2004, less than a year before his death.Literature
Vishnu Kant Shastri was a well known figure in the
Hindi literary world and authored several books, including: "Kavi Nirala Ki Kavya Vedna Tatha Anya Nibandh", "Kuch Chandan Ki Kuch Kapur Ki", "Chintan Mudra", "Anuchintan" (literary criticism), "Tulsi Ke Hiye Heyri" (essay onTulsidas ), "Bangla Desh Ke Sandarbh Main" (reportage), "Smaran Ko Patheya Banahe Do", "Sudhiyan UsChandan Ke Van Ki" (travelogue and reminiscence), "Bhakti Aur Sharanagati", "Gyan Aur Karma" (thought-philosophy), "Anant Path Ke Pathik-Dharamveer Bharti", "Jeevan Path Par Chalte Chalte" (poetry) Apart from translating several Bengali and English poems into Hindi, he translated several books into Hindi as well, including: "Upma Kalidasasya" (Bangla to Hindi), "Sankalp-Santras-Sankalp" (Poetic translation of fiery poems ofBangla Desh ) and "Mahatma Gandhi Ka Samaj Darshan" (English to Hindi). Some of the several accolades and laurels Vishnu Kant Shastri won for his literary efforts were "Acharya Ramchandra Shukla Puruskar" by the Government of Uttar Pradesh for his book "Kuch Chandan Ki Kuch Kapur Ki" in 1972-73, the Government's State Literary Award for his book "Bangla Desh Ke Sandarbh Mein" in 1974-75, Special Award by U.P. Hindi Sansthan for "Smaran Ko Patheya Banahe Do" (1978-79), Special Award by Ramayan Mahotsava Pratishthan,Chitrakoot , U.P. for his work on the literature of Tulsidas (1979), Sahitya Bhushan Samman, Dr.Ram Manohar Lohia Samman, Rajrishi Tandon Hindi Sevi Samman, special lecture on "Ram Charit Manas mein Gyan Aur Karma" as lecturer at Rama Krishna Mission Institute of Culture (1979).Family
Two weeks before his 76th birthday, Vishnu Kant Shastri was travelling on the
Danapur Express toPatna , intending to provide a discourse onGita , when he suffered a fatal heart attack. He was married to Indira Devi fromJanuary 26 ,1953 until her death in 1988. They had one daughter, Bharti Sharma, who survives him.External links
* [http://upgovernor.gov.in/vkshastribio.htm Biographical resume of Vishnu Kant Shastri as governor of Uttar Pradesh]
* [http://www.incometaxinfo.com/vishnukantjishastri.shtml Vishnu Kant Shastri death announcement; includes three official photographs]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.