Bangla Academy ex-DG Shamsuzzaman Khan passes away

Former director general of Bangla Academy professor Shamsuzzaman Khan has passed away. He was 81.

He breathed his last at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University at 2:00pm on Wednesday.

Director general of Bangla Academy Habibullah Siraji has confirmed this to the Prothom Alo.

He said Shamsuzzaman was undergoing treatment at the hospital for about two weeks.

Shamsuzzaman is famous for editing a series on Bangladesh folk culture of 64 different districts in 64 volumes. He also edited collections of folklore series in 114 volumes.

The folklorist and writer was awarded Bangla Academy Literary Award in 2001, Ekushey Padak in 2009 and Independence Day Award in 2017.

Professor Shamsuzzaman obtained his bachelor and postgraduate degrees from University of Dhaka (DU) and joined the Bangla department of Harganga College in Munshiganj as a lecturer in 1964.

At the same year, he joined the then Jagannath College, now Jagannath University, as an assistant professor.

He served the post of director general of Bangla Academy from 24 May 2009 to 2018.

Apart from this, he was the DG of Bangladesh National Museum and Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy.