Noted Bengali writer, translator Enakshi Chatterjee no more

KOLKATA: Renowned Bengali writer and translator Enakshi Chatterjee passed away on Tuesday in a hospital in Delhi due to Covid-related complications, family sources said.

She was 86.

Born in 1934 to a family of renowned lawyers in Patna, Enakshi was the older of two siblings.

She graduated from Patna University, excelling in academics, extracurriculars and sport.

She was married to Dr Santimay Chatterjee, a nuclear physicist mentored by Meghnad Saha, following which she settled in Kolkata.

Enakshi was a prolific author in both Bengali and English in a variety of genres, including humour, popular science, poetry with more than 40 published works in science fiction alone.

Her favourite genre was childrens literature, for which she received the Bidyasagar Award.

She received the Rabindro Puroshkar for the book 'Poromanu Jigyasha' co-written with her husband.

She was also honoured with the Kalidas Nag Memorial Award for her lifetime achievement in literature.

Enakshi was a prominent translator of English and Bengali books, too, most notable among them being Sunil Gangopadhyays 'Purbo-Paschim' (East-West) into English and Vikram Seth's 'A Suitable Boy' into Bengali.

She was also involved in the development of Calcutta Doordarshan in its initial days, assisting with program development.