Sabeena Rafi
{{Short description|Indian essayist and historian of Malayalam literature (1918–1990)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2019}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Sabeena Rafi
| image =
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| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1918|10|6}}
| birth_place = Gothuruth, present day Ernakulam district, Kerala, India
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1990|6|22|1924|10|6}}
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| othername =
| occupation = Essayist, historian
| alma mater =
| spouse = Ponjikkara Rafi
| domesticpartner =
| children =
| parents = {{ublist|Joseph|Mariamma}}
| notable_works = {{ubl|Chavittu Nadakam - Oru Charithra Padanam|Marxism, Oru Thirinjunottam|Kaliyugam}}
| website =
| awards = Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Miscellaneous Works
}}
Sabeena Rafi (6 October 1918 – 22 June 1990) was an Indian essayist and historian of Malayalam literature. Her oeuvre consists of philosophical works, an autobiography and Chavittu Nadakam - Oru Charithra Padanam, the first historical compendium on Chavittu Nadakam, an operatic dance form. Her book, Kaliyugam, a philosophical work jointly written with her husband, Ponjikkara Rafi, fetched her the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Miscellaneous Works in 1972.
Biography
Sabeena was born on 6 October 1918 at Gothuruth, a small village in the periphery of present day Ernakulam district of the south Indian state of Kerala to Joseph and Mariamma.{{Cite web |url=http://www.keralasahityaakademi.org/sp/Writers/PROFILES/SebinaRafi/Html/Sebinarafigraphy.htm |title=Biography on Kerala Sahitya Akademi portal |date=2019-04-09 |website=Biography on Kerala Sahitya Akademi portal |access-date=2019-04-09}} She earned two master's degrees, in History and Economics, and served our her career as a teacher. She married Ponjikkara Rafi in 1963,{{Cite web |url=http://www.keralasahityaakademi.org/sp/Writers/PROFILES/PonjikkaraRafi/Html/PRafigraphy.htm |title=Sabeena Rafi |date=2019-04-10 |website=Kerala Sahitya Akademi |access-date=2019-04-10}} following a period of romance,{{Cite web |url=https://www.mathrubhumi.com/books/features/ponjikkara-rafi-malayalam-news-1.1333411 |title=പോഞ്ഞിക്കര റാഫിയെ മറന്നതെങ്ങനെ ? |last=ഉണ്ണികൃഷ്ണൻ |first=കെ |website=Mathrubhumi |language=en |access-date=2019-04-10 |archive-date=10 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190410083610/https://www.mathrubhumi.com/books/features/ponjikkara-rafi-malayalam-news-1.1333411 |url-status=dead }} but the couple did not have children.{{Cite web |url=https://www.veethi.com/india-people/ponjikkara_rafi-profile-10260-25.htm |title=Ponjikkara Rafi - Veethi profile |date=2019-04-10 |website=veethi.com |access-date=2019-04-10}} She died on 22 June 1990, at the age of 65;{{Cite web |url=https://www.manoramaonline.com/literature/literaryworld/remembering-ponjikkara-rafi.html |title=കേട്ടിട്ടുണ്ടോ പോഞ്ഞിക്കര റാഫിയെന്ന്? |website=ManoramaOnline |access-date=2019-04-10}} survived by Rafi, who died two years later, on 6 September 1992.
Legacy and honours
Sabeen Rafi's oeuvre consists of five non-fiction works and Chritumas Sammanam, her autobiography.{{Cite web |url=http://www.keralasahityaakademi.org/sp/Writers/PROFILES/SebinaRafi/Html/SebinaRafiPage.htm |title=List of works |date=2019-04-09 |website=Kerala Sahitya Akademi |access-date=2019-04-09}} Chavittu Nadakam - Oru Charithra Padanam, her 1964 publication on the history of Chavittu Nadakam, an operatic dance form originated in Ernakulam, is considered to be the first comprehensive book on the subject.{{Cite web |url=https://www.sahapedia.org/chavittunatakam-maritime-dance-drama-of-kerala-0 |title=Chavittunatakam: Maritime Dance Drama of Kerala |website=www.sahapedia.org |access-date=2019-04-10}} Marxism, Oru Thirinjunottam, a book co-written with her husband, is a detailed study of the Marxian theory and its spiritual aspects; the book also has a critique on Mother of Maxim Gorky.{{Cite web |url=http://www.indulekha.com/marxism-oru-thirinjunottam-study-ponjikkara-rafi-and-sebeena-rafi?author_id= |title=Marxism Oru Thirinjunottam |date=2019-04-10 |website=www.indulekha.com |access-date=2019-04-10 |archive-date=10 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190410085027/http://www.indulekha.com/marxism-oru-thirinjunottam-study-ponjikkara-rafi-and-sebeena-rafi%3Fauthor_id%3D |url-status=dead }} Kaliyugam, again a Ponjikkara Rafi co-written work, is a study of human behaviour from early ages, with a philosophical perspective. The book fetched her the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Miscellaneous Works in 1972.{{Cite web |url=http://www.keralasahityaakademi.org/sp/Writers/ksa/Awards/others.htm |title=Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Miscellaneous Works |date=2019-04-10 |website=Kerala Sahitya Akademi |access-date=2019-04-10}}
Bibliography
- {{Cite book |url=http://122.165.117.71/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=149182 |title=Chavittu Nadakam - Oru Charithra Padanam |last=Sabeena Rafi |date=1964 |publisher=Avanthi Publications |edition=1 |location=Kochi |language=ml}}
- {{Cite book |url=http://103.251.43.202:8080/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=4593 |title=Christumas sammanam |last=Sabeena Rafi |date=1968 |edition=1 |language=ml}}
- {{Cite book |url=http://122.165.117.71/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=39730&query_desc=au%253A%2522Ponjikkara%2520Rafi%2522%2520and%2520au%253APonjikkara%2520Rafi |title=Kaliyugam |last1=Ponjikkara Rafi |last2=Sebeena Rafi |date=1982 |publisher=D. C. B. Kottayam |edition=1 |language=ml}}
- {{Cite book |url=http://122.165.117.71/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=80342&query_desc=au%253A%2522Ponjikkara%2520Rafi%2522%2520and%2520au%253APonjikkara%2520Rafi |title=Marxism Oru Thirinjunottam, Emmavoosilekkula Yathrayum |last1=Ponjikkara Rafi |last2=Sabeena Rafi |date=1991 |publisher=Bamsuri Books |edition=0 |language=ml}}
- {{Cite book |url=https://catalog.uoc.ac.in/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=83015&query_desc=au%252Cwrdl%253A%2520Ponjikkara%2520Rafi |title=Sukradasayude charitram |last1=Sabeena Rafi |last2=Ponjikkara Rafi |date=1992 |publisher=D.C. Books |location=Kottayam}}
See also
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{{Portal|India|Literature}}
References
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External links
- {{Cite web |url=http://www.keralasahityaakademi.org/sp/Writers/PROFILES/SebinaRafi/Html/SebinaRafi.htm |title=Portrait commissioned by Kerala Sahitya Akademi |date=2019-04-05 |website=Kerala Sahitya Akademi |access-date=2019-04-05}}
- {{Cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NipTBVJMl7U |title=CHAVITTUNADAKAM and SEBEENA RAFI TEACHER |last=WEB ONE MEDIA |website=YouTube |date=2019-01-19 |access-date=2019-04-10}}
{{Malayalam Literature |state=collapsed}}
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Category:Writers from Ernakulam district
Category:20th-century Indian essayists
Category:Recipients of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award
Category:Women writers from Kerala
Category:20th-century Indian women writers