Noted Academic, Writer Subhendu Mund No More

Bhubaneswar: Noted academic, litterateur, lexicographer and translator Subhendu Mund passed away here on Friday morning. He was 70. He is survived by his wife Pranati, two sons and a daughter.

Family sources said he had mild temperature over the past two days but is believed to have suffered a heart attack. He was rushed to a private hospital here but had breathed his last by then.

A native of Kalahandi district, Mund was educated at Berhampur (Graduation), Sambalpur (MA in English), Utkal (PhD) universities besides Aberdeen University, Scotland. He started his career as a teacher of English Literature in 1973. He taught at different state-run colleges, including Government College, Bhawanipatna; SCS College, Puri; and, Ravenshaw Evening College, Cuttack. He served as Registrar of Utkal University of Culture and retired as Principal of BJB Autonomous College, Bhubaneswar, in 2009. Subsequently, he served as Visiting Professor, School of Humanities, Social Sciences and Management, IIT Bhubaneswar.

He had about 100 research papers in the field of Indian English Literature, Odia Literature and Cultural Studies. He was chief editor, Indian Journal of World Literature and Culture; vice-president, Indian Association for Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies; and chairman, Association for Studies in Literature and Culture. He was also a member of the Senate of IIT Bhubaneswar.

Mund has to his credit over 40 books, research-based and creative, including edited works and those authored by him. His anthology of poems (Shabda Nishabda, 1980, Muhurtatie Mohini! 1987, Swapnabarta 1996, Shabdaphena 1998, Sthira Udana 2005) and stories (Chhaka 1980, Seemabaddha, 1981) were well-received in literary circles. His translations, critical essays, book reviews, research papers were published in Odia and English. His monograph on writer Sitakant Mohapatra has been translated in Kannad. He was also associated with various literary and cultural organizations across the country including Sahitya Akademi and Odisha Sahitya Academy.

Some of his other major publications in English are Atibadi Jagannath Das: A Quincentennial Tribute (Anthology of critical essays on the saint-poet: edited with a Critical Introduction, 1991), The Indian Novel in English: Its Birth and Development (1997), scholarly re-issue of Toru Dutt’s Bianca: Or the Young Spanish Maiden (1878) —The First Novel by an Indian Woman (2001), Bureau’s English-Oriya Dictionary (2001), Ma Nishada and Other Poems (Selected Odia poems in English translation, 2011), and Kanhu Charan Mohanty (Makers of Indian Literature Series, Sahitya Akademi, 2015).

In a tweet, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik mourned his death and said he was sad to learn about his demise.