Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury

Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury Biography

Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury was a famous Bengali writer, painter, violin player and composer, technologist and entrepreneur. The renowned Film maker Satyajit Ray is his grandson. His son Sukumar Ray was a noted Bengali writer. His great grandson, Sandip Ray is a noted Bengali writer of present times. He was a leading member of the Brahmo Movement, responsible for cultural renovation of Bengal society during the late 19^th century. He has been associated with Tagore’s family for arts and many means. As a writer, folklores are his best contributions to Bengali literature. He pioneered in India in the art of engraving and was the first to attempt color printing in the black and white era.

He was born on 12 May 1863 in Moshua, a small village of Bengal, now a part of Bangladesh. His real name was Kamadaranjan Ray and his father Kalinath Ray was a scholar in many languages like Sanskrit, Persian and Arabic. He was also proficient in English as well as Indian and British Indian legal systems. At the age of five, Kamadaranjan was adopted by Harikishore, their relative who was a zamindar. Thus he was renamed as Upendrakishore and given the surname, Raychaudhuri. His education was completed at Kolkata.

Upendrakishore was the first person to introduce modern block making in south Asia. He mastered this technique after importing chemicals and equipment from Britain to learn this technology. He published several books using this technology. In 1913 he founded one of the finest presses that time, U. Ray and Sons at 100 Garpar Road. Later he invented several techniques related to halftone block making. As an author too, he has contributed a lot to children’s literature. Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne is his masterpiece work. He became a part of religious movement of Brahmo Samaj in 1883 and died on December 20, 1915.

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Updated: March 17, 2014