Acharya Shivpujan Sahay

Acharya Shivpujan Sahay is a Hindi a novelist (Dehati Duniya 1926), a short story writer (Vibhuti 1935), editor and prose writer.

Sahay was born in a middle class Kayastha land-owning family in the Unwans village near Buxar on 9 August 1893. After his early education and a short stint as a Hindi language teacher at Ara (1903-1921) he went to Kolkata and joined "Matwala" as an editor in 1923. He went to Lucknow in 1924 to join the editorial department of "Madhuri" where he worked with Hindi author Premchand and edited his "Rangbhumi" and some of his other stories. After a year he returned to Calcutta and continued editing short-lived journals such as "Samanway", "Mauji", "Golmal","Upanyas Tarang".

Finally Sahay moved to Varanasi (Kāśi) to work as a freelance editor. For a short period in 1931, he went to Sultanganj near Bhagalpur to edit "Ganga", but returned to Varanasi where he was commissioned to edit "Jagaran", a literary fortnightly brought out by Jayashankar Prasad and his circle of friends in 1932. He once again found himself working beside Premchand. He also went on to become a prominent member of the Nagari Pracharini Sabha and similar literary circles in Varanasi.

In 1935 he moved to Laheria Sarai (Darbhanga) to work as editor of "Balak" and other publications of Pustak Bhandar owned by Acharya Ramlochan Saran. In 1939 he joined Rajendra College, Chapra as Professor of Hindi Language. In 1946, on a year's leave, he moved to Patna to edit "Himalaya", a literary monthly again a publication of Pustak Bhandar owned by [ Acharya Ramlochan Saran] .

In 1949 Sahay finally came to Patna to work as Secretary of Bihar Rashtra Bhasha Parished, a government academy where he edited and published more than 50 volumes of Hindi reference works. Later he became Director of the Parishad and compiled and edited "Hindi Sahitya Aur Bihar' a literary history.

His own works were compiled and published in 4 volumes of "Shipujan Rachanavali" (1956-59). Shivpujan Sahay is also remembered for his editing of several literary commemoration volumes, chiefly "Dwivedi Abhinandan Granth" (1933), "Rajendra Abhinandan Granth" (1950) and "Jayanti Smarak Granth" (1942). He also edited Dr Rajendra Prasad's "Atmakatha".

He died in Patna on 21 January, 1963. His posthumously published books are "Wey Din Wey Log"(1965), "Mera Jeevan" (1985), "Smritishesh" (1994), "Hindi Bhasha Aur Sahitya" (1996), and "Gram Sudhar" (2007). He was awarded Padmabhushan award in 1960.

References

*"Shivpujan Sahay" by Mangal Murty, Published by Sahitya Academy, 35 Phirozshah Marg, New Delhi, India