NEWS AND INSIGHTS

In the fifteenth episode of Ogroj, leading Bangladeshi academician, researcher, folklorist, writer and the incumbent President of Bangla Academy, Professor Shamsuzzaman Khan.

Nobel laureate Amartya Sen writes, "I have been an admirer of Shamsuzzaman Khan's work for a very long time. The critical judgment, historical insights, and remarkable scholarship that Shamsuzzaman brings to his analyses and writings are altogether exceptional. He has made us think afresh on many important subjects (particularly on the understanding of folk literature as well as literary texts), and we have reason to be grateful for Shamsuzzaman Khan's well-established intellectual leadership."

Professor Shamsuzzaman Khan, who is currently the President of the Bangla Academy, was the guest of IPDC Ogroj in its fifteenth episode. Hosted by Anis A. Khan, IPDC Ogroj has been shedding lights on senior personalities who have contributed to various fields in Bangladesh since post-independence.

Born in 1937 in Manikganj, Professor Shamsuzzaman Khan lost his father when he was two. He started teaching at Haraganga College of Munshiganj before he finished his M A. Later, he taught at Bangladesh Agricultural University (1968-73) and National University (1998-01). With a photographic memory, Professor Khan has always been a teacher at heart and truly embodied this land's philosophy.

In the fifteenth episode, he mentioned that his teachers had a significant influence on him. He particularly remembers Khalilur Rahman, a teacher of Bangla and his wife Roquiya Sultana (later adopted by Dr Govinda Chandra Dev), who had guided him in shaping his progressive worldview. He loved to buy books; reading is an obsession for the budding scholar.

He is a leading figure in the study of folklore in post-independence Bangladesh. He has written and edited more than a hundred books. Bengali literature, mythology, history of Bangladesh, the life of Bangabandhu, secularism and many other issues have come up in his research. He has also made significant contributions to the creation of basic creative literature.

In 2009, Professor Shamsuzzaman Khan became the Director General of the Bangla Academy. As the successor to the late National Professor Anisuzzaman, he is currently the President of the Institute. He has also been appointed as Bangabandhu Chair Professor of Islamic University, Kushtia.

In recognition of his literary and research work, the creative man has been awarded numerous honors, including the Bangla Academy Sahitya Puraskar (2001), Ekush Padak (2009) and the highest state honor, the Swadhinata Puraskar, in 2016.

Mominul Islam, the Managing Director and CEO of IPDC Finance, said about the event that Professor Shamsuzzaman Khan is a name intertwined with our country's literature. Since the inception of Ogroj, IPDC has been dedicated to shedding light on such invaluable personalities; we are indeed lucky to have personalities like Professor Shamsuzzaman Khan, who takes the initiative stature higher any day".

"OGROJ" is a webinar series that airs live on the first and third Thursdays of each month from the IPDC's official Facebook page and YouTube Channel. A digital archive of all the episode and the platform is available at www.ogroj.com.bd.