Harivansh Rai Bachchan

Harivansh Rai Bachchan Biography

Harivansh Rai Bachchan was a noted poet of Chhayavaad literary movement. He is also the father of the noted Bollywood actor, Amitabh Bachchan. He was given Padma Bhushan in the year 1976 for overall contributions to Hindi literature. He has also received Sahitya Akademi award three times. His most popular poem was Madhusala. He has translated Bhagavat Geeta, Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyat and Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Othello to Hindi. He wrote his last poem ‘Ek November 1984’ on Indira Gandhi’s assassination.

Bachchan was born on 27 November 1907 in Allahabad, UP. He was the eldest son of Pratap Narayan Shrivastav and Saraswati Devi. Bachchan was his pet name during his early childhood. But later he kept it and now followed by his sons, grand children and grand daughter-in-law, Aishwarya Rai. He followed the family tradition of attending Kayastha Paathshaala to learn Urdu before starting a career. He later studied at the Allahabad University and Banaras Hindu University. He was influenced by freedom struggle movement in those days.

From 1941 to 1952 he was a professor in the English Department at the Allahabad University. Later he took doctorate from St Catharine's College, Cambridge University. From there on, he used ‘Bachchan’ as his last name instead of Srivastava. He is the second Indian to get his doctorate in English literature from Cambridge. Later he continued his profession as a professor and has also worked in AIR. He got married in 1929 at the age of 19. But she died 10 years later and he married Teji Bachchan, in 1941. Amitabh Bachchan and Ajitabh Bachchan were born in this wed lock. Teji was along with him till his life end. He died in 2003 aged 95 and she died six years later in 2007, at the age of 93. A few of his noted works include – Madhukalash, Do Chattane, Madhubala, Madhusala, Halaahal, Dhaar ke idhar udhar, Chaar kheme Chaunsath khoonte, Jaal sameta and Bahut din beete.

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Updated: November 22, 2013