Doodhnath Singh

Doodhnath Singh Biography

Doodhnath Singh was a Hindi writer who lived during the period, 17 October 1936 – 12 January 2018. He was a well-known poet, playwright, short story writer and critic. Sapaat Chehre Wala Aadmi, Aakhri Kalaam, Nishkaasan, Bhai Ka Shok Geet, Dharmakshetra-Kurukshetra and Surang se Lautate Huye are among his major works. Noted writers and siblings - Namvar Singh and Kashinath Singh are his distant relatives. As an academician he was associated with University of Allahabad for many years and retired as an assistant professor in 1994. After that he was quite active with his literary works. He passed away in January 2018. He was suffering from prostate cancer and was survived by three children. As per his wishes his eyes were donated.

He was born on 17 October 1936 in Sobantha, Ballia district, Uttar Pradesh. He belonged to a middle class agriculture family. His father’s name is Devkinandan Singh, and he had two younger brothers. He studied at his native school and later studied at Chitbara Gaon. Since young he developed a keen interest in reading books, while he took cattle for grazing. He completed his graduation with the help of his uncle, and then completed his master’s degree from Allahabad. He started his professional career with schools and then moved to colleges. He has served as the principal of Rangoota High School, Kolkata.

While at Kolkata, he was quite active as a writer and editor, and also came into contact with famous Hindi writer Sumitranandan Pant. Then he joined Allahabad University as an assistant professor, and served this position till his retirement in 1994. As a writer he has authored three poetry collections, apart from several literary critic works. His close friend Kashinath Singh was his distant relative too. The duo along with two more writers - Gyan Ranjan and Ravindra Kalia were known as "Four friends of Hindi".

Published: September 26, 2018

Updated: September 26, 2018