Prithwindra Mukherjee

Prithwindra Mukherjee (

He is the recipient of India's highly prestigious award Padma Shri 2020 for his work in the field of literature and education.^[1][2]

Early life and education

Born to Tejendranath and Usharani Mukherjee in

Professional and academic life

Prithwindra began his working life as a teacher of

In 1977, invited by the National Archives of India as a guest of the Historical Records Commission, he presented a paper on Jatindra Nath Mukherjee and the Indo-German Conspiracy in the presence of personalities like Arthur L. Basham and Professor S. Nurul Hasan. Prithwindra's original contribution in this area has been recognized by Professor Amales Tripathi, Bhupendrakumar Datta, Dr. Jadugopal Mukhopadhyay, Dr. M.N. Das (Utkal University),¨Professor A.C. Bose, Samaren Roy, Bhupati Majumdar, Basudha Chakravarty. Quite a few of his papers on the subject have been translated into major Indian languages.

Life after reaching France

Since his reaching Paris, for a number of years, invited by the literary magazine Desh of

The eminent author Jacques Attali in his French biography of Gandhi (Fayard, 2007) mentions his debt to PM for having revised the manuscripts and collaborated actively. Later, Mr. Attali has qualified Prithwindra Mukherjee as "the man of Franco-Indian Renaissance".

On 1 January 2009, the Minister of Culture of France has appointed Prithwindra Mukherjee to the rank of chevalier (Knight) of the Order of Arts and Letters. The French Academy (Belles Lettres) selected Prithwindra Mukherjee for its Hirayama Award (Prix Hirayama) 2014. On 1 January 2015, the French Prime Minister, requested by the Minister of Education, has appointed Prithwindra Mukherjee to the rank of chevalier (Knight) of the order of Palmes académiques (Academic Laurels).

Selected bibliography

• Danse cosmique – (trilingual collection of selected poems, published on the occasion of the creation of
  Sir Simon Rattle) by the senior French composer Henri Dutilleux: it contains as the first movement PM's 'Danse cosmique', in homage to Shiva Nataraja; foreword by Jean Biès
  , éd. Le Décaèdre/ Findakly, 2003
• Sri Aurobindo, 'Biographies', Desclée de Brouwer, 2000
• Nandî le Fou et autres nouvelles de
  Banaphul
  . Selection of texts, translation, introduction and notes. Gallimard, 1994.
• Anthologie de la poésie bengalie, choix de textes, traduction, introduction et notes, 1991. 301p. Repr. in pocket book, 1992, L'Harmattan.
• Les écrits bengalis de Sri Aurobindo. Foreword by Olivier LACOMBE of the French Academy. Dervy-Livres, 1986.
• Chants bâuls, les Fous de l'Absolu, selection of texts, translation in French and English, introduction, notes on esoteric symbols. éd. Findakly/ Ministry of Culture, 1985.
• Maître Camkara, discours sur le bouddhisme, éd. Trédaniel, 1985
• Le sâmkhya, essai philosophique. Foreword by Professor Guy BUGAULT (University Paris IV). Epi/DDB, 1983.
• Serpent de flammes, poèmes. Foreword G. MOURGUE. éd. Estienne, 1981
• Chants Caryâ, a collection of Bengali sahaj-yâna texts, with introduction and notes, Le Calligraphe, Paris, 1981
• Poèmes du Bangladesh, a selection of poems, Publications Orientalistes de France, Paris, 1975 (with LP containing some poems recited by Madeleine Renaud, Jean-Louis Barrault and PM)
• Thât/Mélakartâ : The Fundamental Scales in Indian Music of the North and the South, Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, New Delhi, 2004; foreword by Pandit Ravi Shankar
• Prasanga bâul: kichhu durbhâvanâ ('About the Bâuls : Some Questions') in Ebong mushâyérâ, Kolkâtâ
• Sri aurobindo ki samasâmayik ? ('Is Sri Aurobindo our contemporary ?') in Vasudhârâ, Kolkâtâ,
• Sri Aurobindo (biography), Sri Aurobindo Institute of Culture, Kolkâtâ, 2003 [Sri Aurobindo Award]
• Cognitive Prototypes in Râgas of Indian Music .in Proceedings of the XVth International Congress of Linguists, Palais de Congress, 1997, Elsevier Science, Oxford, 1998
• "Rabindranâth Tagore" in Les Prix Nobel de Littérature, éd. L'Alhambra, Paris, 1992, pp. 185–191.
• "Rabindranath Tagore" in Encyclopédie Universalis (several editions since 1982)
• "Rabindranath Tagore" in Dictionnaire des littératures, Presses Universitaires de France, Paris
• Vishvéra chokhé Rabindranath, tributes to the Poet, Rupa & Co, Calcutta, 1991
• Undying Courage : Biography of Jatindranath Mukherjee (one of the founders of the Freedom Movement in India), Academic Publishers, Calcutta, 1992
• Sâdhak biplabi jatîndranâth : a comprehensive biography of Jatindranath Mukherjee, West Bengal Board of Books, Calcutta, 1991
• Bâghâ Jatîn, an abridged biography, Dey's Publishing, Calcutta, 4th Edition.
• Mélakartâ, Mukherjee, Prithwindra (auteur), Préface de Ravi Shankar, Editions Publibook Université, 2010,
  ISBN 978-2-7483-5235-1
• Les racines intellectuelles du mouvement d'indépendance de l'Inde (1893–1918), Préface de Jacques Attali, Editions Codex, 2010