Bangla Academy
Encyclopedia
Bengali language
Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script...
in Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
. The main office of the organization is located at the Burdwan House, once a part of the campus of the University of Dhaka
University of Dhaka
The University of Dhaka is the oldest university in Bangladesh. It is a multi-disciplinary research university and is among the top universities in the region. Established on July 21, 1921, as per the Government of India Act, 1920, it was modelled on the Universities in England and soon gained...
, beside Suhrawardy Udyan
Suhrawardy Udyan
Suhrawardy Udyan formerly known as Ramna Racecourse ground is a national memorial located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Once known as ‘‘Bagh-e-Badshahi’’ during the Mughal rule, it is named after Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy. Originally it served as the military club of the British soldiers stationed in Dhaka...
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History
The importance of establishing an organization for Bengali language was first emphasized by the linguist Dr. Muhammad ShahidullahMuhammad Shahidullah
Muhammad Shahidullah , popularly known as Dr. Muhammad Shahidullah was a famous Bengali educationist, writer philologist and linguist.A dormitory in University of Dhaka is named after him .-Early life:...
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Later, following the Language movement, on April 27, 1952, the All Party National Language Committee decided to demand establishment of an organisation for the promotion of Bengali language.
During the 1954 parliamentary elections, the United Front's 21 point manifesto stated that, "The prime minister from the United Front will dedicate the Bardhaman House for establishing a research centre for Bengali language". Following the election success of the Front, the education minister Syed Azizul Haque placed the order to fulfill this promise.
In 1955, the Government formed a committee to expedite the process. The committee was composed of leading intellectuals like Dr. Muhammad Shahidullah, Dr. Qazi Motahar Hossain
Qazi Motahar Hossain
Qazi Motahar Hossain is a famous Bangladeshi author, scientist, statistician and journalist. He is also renowned for his unique style of literature. He had intimate friendship with poet Kazi Nazrul Islam, Kazi Abdul Odud and many other eminent figures...
, Dr. S.M. Bhattacharya, Dr. W. H. Shadani, and Muhammad Barkatullah. On December 3, 1955, the prime minister, Abu Hossain, inaugurated the Bangla Academy.
At first, Muhammad Barkatullah acted as the Special Officer in charge. Later, in 1956, Dr. Enamul Haque took over as the first director general. In 1957, an act of the parliament formally established the funding source and the Government support for the Academy. The first book published by the academy was Laili Maznu, an epic by the medieval poet Daulat Ujir Bahram Khan, and edited by Prof. Ahmed Sharif
Ahmed Sharif
Ahmed Sharif was an educationist, philosopher, critic, writer and scholar of medieval Bangla literature. Born in Chittagong, Sharif retired as a Professor from University of Dhaka in 1983. Sharif is widely recognized as one of the most outspoken atheist and radical thinkers of Bangladesh.Dr...
. The first fellow of the academy was the poet Farrukh Ahmed
Farrukh Ahmed
Farrukh Ahmad was a poet and writer of Bangladesh. He was born in the village of Sreepur Upazilla of Magura District.He was the second son of Syed Hatem Ali and Begum Rawshan. He graduated from Khulna Zila School in 1937 and did his IA from Ripon College, Kolkata in 1939...
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Activities
Bangla Academy Award
Bangla Academy Award is a literary award given by the Bangla Academy of Bangladesh in recognition of creative genius in advancement and overall contribution in the field of Bangla language and literature....
, given each year for contribution to Bengali language.
To commemorate the Language movement and the Language martyr's day, the Academy organises the month-long Ekushey Book Fair
Ekushey Book Fair
The Ekushey Book Fair or Omor Ekushey Boi Mela , popularly known as Ekushey Boi Mela is the national book fair of Bangladesh...
, the largest book fair in the country.