Eminent Urdu litterateur Shamim Hanfi has been conferred with the prestigious Jnangarima Manad Alankaran by Bharatiya Jnanpith in New Delhi. The award was announced at the annual ‘Kavita Samay’ – an evening of poetry recitation by authors in both Hindi and Urdu. It was organised by the institution in August 2015 to commemorate 70 years of the institution. Hanfi was presented with a Saraswati statue, a silver citation and a shawl. He will also receive a stipend of Rs 11,000 per month for the next one year from Bharatiya Jnanpith.
Founded earlier this year, the Jnangarima Manad Alankaran award recognises the contribution of writers in Indian languages. Hanfi was hailed from from Sultanpur in Uttar Pradesh. He moved to Allahabad to pursue his higher studies, where he met Firaq Gorakhpuri, one of the most celebrated contemporary Urdupoets, who eventually also became his mentor.
The Urdu scholar is best known for his books on criticism like “Jadidiyat ki Falsafiyani Asas,” “Ghazal Ka NayaManzarnama” and “Infiradi Shaoor aur Ijtemai Zindagi.”He also served as a faculty member in Aligarh Muslim University for a brief period of time before joining Jamia Millia Islamia, from where he resigned as the Dean of Humanities and Languages department in 2012.
Points to Note
Bharatiya Jnanpith was founded in 1944 to undertake systematic research and publication of Sanskrit, Prakrit, Paliand Apabhramsha texts and covers subjects like religion,philosophy, logic, ethics, grammar, astrology and poetics.
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