Born :- 23-Nov-1896
Died :- 28-Apr-1973
Place of Birth :- Punanga, Jagatsinghpur

Birakishore Das is wellknown to every conscious citizen of Odisha as a nationalist poet. During the Separate Odisha Movement and the Indian Liberation Struggle, his literary works invoked revolutionary spirit among the people to join the struggles and charged the then socio-political environment with nationalistic fervour and patriotism.

Birakishore was born in 1898 to father Gopal Chandra Das in village Poonang in the modern Jagatsinghpur district. After completing his childhood education in village Chatshali, he studied at Cuttack Victoria High School and later did his FA at Cuttack College. He was married in 1923 to Sharda, the daughter of freedom fighter Dharmananda Pattnaik.

After a few days of teaching at the Pyarimohan Academy in Cuttack, Birakishore joined government service as a clerk. He later joined the freedom struggle and quit his government career. He joined the Salt Satyagraha in 1930, and was sentenced to seven prison terms during the Freedom movement. Many of his manuscripts were destroyed during the unspeakable torture of the police.

After Independence, Birakishore became chairman of the Cuttack Sadar Local Board. He was a member of the Book Nationalisation Committee of the second State Assembly. He breathed his last at Swaraj Ashram in Cuttack on 28 April 1973.

'Mohanbanshi' was Birakishore's first collection of poems. It was based on stories of Bapuji. Birakishore has immortalised himself for his poetry books– ‘Rana Dunduvi’, ‘Ranabheri’, ‘Bidrohi-beena’, ‘Mohana-benu’, ‘Sabuja Sathi’, ‘Samara Yugara Amara Geeta’, ‘Saata-deepa’ etc. Birakishore also authored textbooks ‘My Picture Book’ and ‘New Picture Book’. He was also responsible for the publication of the monthly children's magazine ‘My Country’. Children’s magazine ‘Sishulekha’ published by the government is the result of his priceless efforts.

Biography

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