Ranjitram Mehta
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2018}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Ranjitram Mehta
| image = Ranjitram Mehta.jpg
| caption = Portrait of Ranjitram Mehta
| pseudonym =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1881|10|25|df=y}}
| birth_place = Surat, Bombay Presidency, British India
{{small|(present-day Gujarat, India)}}
| death_date = {{death date and age|1917|6|4|1881|10|25|df=y}}
| death_place = Bombay, British India
| occupation = Researcher, writer
| language = Gujarati
| nationality = Indian
| education = Bachelor of Arts
| alma_mater = Gujarat College
| period =
| genre =
| subject =
| movement =
| notableworks = Ranjitram Gadyasanchay 1-2 (1982)
| signature =
| website =
| children = Asoka Mehta
}}
Ranjitram Vavabhai Mehta (25 October 1881 – 4 June 1917) was a Gujarati language writer from British India.
Biography
Mehta was born on 25 October 1881 in Surat to Vavabhai. He completed his schooling in Ahmedabad where his father was the Chief Engineer of the Ahmedabad Municipal Committee.{{cite book|author=Verinder Grover|title=Asoka Mehta|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OXCyoborhEMC&pg=PR11|year=1994|publisher=Deep & Deep Publications|isbn=978-81-7100-567-3|pages=11–}} He completed Bachelor of Arts from Gujarat College in 1903 and served as a fellow for eight months. From 1906 to 1917, he served as a personal assistant of Prof. Gajjar and Prabhashankar Pattani, Dewan of Bhavnagar State. He had served as principal of high school at Umreth in 1905.{{cite encyclopedia|encyclopedia=Gujarati Sahitya Kosh (Encyclopedia of Gujarati Literature)|editor-last=Topiwala|editor-first=Chandrakant|editor-link=Chandrakant Topiwala|year=1999|publisher=Gujarati Sahitya Parishad|location=Ahmedabad|page=463|title=Ranjitram Mehta|language=gu}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.gujaratisahityaparishad.com/prakashan/photo-gallery/sahitya-sarjako/Ranjitram-V-Mehta.html|title=રણજિતરામ વા. મહેતા|website=Gujarati Sahitya Parishad|language=gu|trans-title=Ranjitram V Mehta|access-date=2017-06-20}}
He founded Gujarat Sahitya Sabha in 1904 and Gujarati Sahitya Parishad in 1905.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MqYgBQAAQBAJ&q=ranjitram+mehta&pg=PT115|title=From England with Love: An Indian Student Writes from Cambridge (1926–27)|last=Desai|first=Padma|date=2014-11-01|publisher=Penguin UK|isbn=9789351189022|pages=115|language=en}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QSZHBAAAQBAJ&q=ranjitram+mehta&pg=PT220|title=The Oppressive Present: Literature and Social Consciousness in Colonial India|last=Chandra|first=Sudhir|date=2014-08-13|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781317559931|pages=220|language=en}} He died on 4 June 1917 by drowning in sea at Juhu beach. The highest award of Gujarati literature and culture, Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak, is named after him.{{cite encyclopedia |last=Parekh |first=Madhusudan |title= Mehta Ranjitram Vavabhai |encyclopedia=Gujarati Vishwakosh |editor-last=Thakar |editor-first=Dhirubhai |editor-link=Dhirubhai Thaker |publisher=Gujarati Vishwakosh Trust |volume=15 |pages= 524–525}}
His son Asoka Mehta (1911-1984) was an Indian independence activist and socialist politician.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K7MxAQAAIAAJ&q=ranjitram+mehta+gujarati+writers+son+asoka|title=Himmat|date=May 1976|volume=2 Part 2|pages=496|language=en}}{{cite book|title=Mainstream|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HWbhAAAAMAAJ|year=1994|publisher=N. Chakravartty|page=36}}
Works
Mehta worked in different genres of literature such as essay, novel, drama and short story. Ranjitkruti Sangrah, a collection of his writings, was published posthumously in 1921 by K. M. Munshi. Ranjitramna Nibandho, a collection of his essays, was also published posthumously in 1923. Gujarat Sahitya Parishad published his complete work as Ranjitram Gadyasanchay 1-2 in 1982 on his birth centenary. Gujarati Sahitya Akademi has published Ranjitram Vavavbhai ane Temnu Sahitya. His Ahmad Rupande (1908) was a love story between Hindu girl and Muslim boy.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sHklK65TKQ0C|title=History of Indian Literature|last=Das|first=Sisir Kumar|date=2000|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|isbn=9788172010065|pages=309|language=en}} In 1905, he had coined the Gujarati words Lokgeet and Lokkatha for folklore in a paper presented at Gujarati Sahitya Parishad.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Idr3fbf2oc0C&q=ranjitram+mehta&pg=PT538|title=Different Types of History: Project of History of Science, Philosophy and Culture in Indian Civilization, Volume XIV Part 4|last1=Chattopadhyaya|first1=D. P.|last2=Ray|first2=Bharati|publisher=Pearson Education India|isbn=9788131786666|pages=538|language=en}}
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Internet Archive author|search=("Mehta Ranjitram Vavabhai" OR "Ranjitram Vavabhai")}}
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Category:Gujarati-language writers
Category:20th-century Indian essayists