National professor Anisuzzaman no more

National professor Anisuzzaman died of old age complications at the Combined Military Hospital (CMH), Dhaka on Thursday.

He was 83.

He breathed his last around 4:55pm, said Anisuzzaman’s son Anindya Zaman.

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s press wing members said she has expressed profound shock at the death of professor Anisuzzaman.

Professor Anisuzzaman was shifted to the CMH from Universal Cardiac Hospital after deterioration of his health condition on 10 May.

He was admitted to the Universal Cardiac Hospital in the capital city on 29 April with various health complications, his family members said.

As his condition deteriorated, he was taken to the Intensive Care Unit of the hospital on 2 May, they added.

Anisuzzaman is an eminent educator, writer and professor emeritus of Bangla language and literature department at Dhaka University.

Born on 18 February 1937 in Basirhat of 24-Pargana district in West Bengal of British India, Anisuzzaman participated in the Language Movement, the 1969 Mass Upsurge and the Liberation War. After the independence, he became a member of the National Education Commission with Kudrat-E-Khuda as its chief.

He worked as a member of the planning commission of Bangladesh government in exile. He was appointed as the president of Bangla Academy for fourth time on 28 January this year.

Anisuzzaman had conducted outstanding research on the history of Bangla literature and received the Bangla Academy Literary Award, the Independence Award and the Ekushey Padak. He also won many international awards for his contributions to literature.

The books such as ‘Muslim Manash O Bangla Sahitya’, ‘Swaruper Sandhane’, ‘Purono Bangla Gadya’, ‘Bangali Nari: Sahitye O Samaje’, ‘Kal Nirabadhi’, and ‘Ihajagatikata O Anyanya’ by professor Anuisuzzman are considered seminal works by academics working on Bangla literature and language.