Debi Prasanna Pattanayak, famous linguist of international repute, social scientist and a prolific writer was born on 14 March, 1931 in Tigiria of Cuttack district to parents Madhusudan Pattanayak and Minamali Devi. After primary and secondary education in local schools he did his graduation in Odia language and literature with Honours from the Christ College, and post-graduation from Ravenshaw College with Bhaktakabi Madhusudan Gold Medal for extra-ordinary merit. Following this, he started his professional life as an ad hoc lecturer in Rajendra College Bolangir and, after a stint there, he joined the Biswabharati University in Shanti Niketan in the Department of Odia Language and Literature. During this period, Shri Pattanayak also did a Deploma in Linguistics and proceeded to Cornell University of New York where he had his Ph.D. in linguistics in 1961.

Shri Pattanayak worked as Chief Linguist at the Indian-American Language Research Organisation from 1964 to 1969 and was Founder-Director of the Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysore for long 20 years – from 1969 to 1979. He finally retired as Additional Secretary of the education department of the Government of India. He is also the former Chairman of the Institute of Odia Studies and Research, Bhubaneswar. He was also Professor Emeritus of the Poona University, Senior Advisor to the Indira Gandhi National Art Centre, New Delhi and President of the Transparency International, Odisha chapter.

Shri Pattanayak also worked in 11 African countries for several years and reformed many languages. And for each of those countries he worked for, he prepared a Language Policy which was accepted by the respective governments.

Shri Pattanayak believes that in India a language policy should be put in place at the central government as well as the state government levels for proper guidance in pursuing language matters in administration and education, including professional. But he regrets that despite his efforts during his tenure under the central government, his continuous efforts to persuade the government to adopt a language policy fell on deaf ears.   

Shri Pattanayak, for his extensive study and research and his unique service to language and literature, was awarded Padma Shri in 1987. His contribution in formalising the Bodo language and its addition in the 8th schedule of the Constitution is memorable. More memorable is his major role in the Odia language acquiring ‘classical language’ status. His efforts to have an Odia University in the state have finally borne fruit. The university, he believes, will go a long way in making Odia language a language of knowledge as well as a language of development which will do away with the inferiority complex of Odia people within and outside of Odisha.

Shri Pattanayak has authored many books and papers both in English and Odia.They include : Multilingualism in India, Intensive Hindi course: drills, Language and Social Issues: Princess Leelavathi Memorial Lectures, Papers in Indian Sociolinguistics, An Introduction to Tamil Script, Reading & Writing, Multilingualism and mother-tongue education, Language Policy and Programmes, Advanced Tamil Reader - Part 1, An Outline of Kumauni Grammar, Language and Cultural Diversity: The Writings of Debi Prasanna Pattanayak, Volume 2, Language, Education, and Culture, A Controlled Historical Reconstruction of Oriya, Assamese, Bengali, and Hindi, Conversational Oriya, Orissa, Oriya and the Multilingual Context, Multilingualism and Multiculturalism: Britain and India, An Introduction To Tamil Script, Reading & Writing, Rabindra Smara?ika.

‘Kabilipi’ (1957) in Odia which he wrote while in Shanti Niketan, contains letters of Gangadhar Meher to Radhanath Roy, with a long preface in the beginning and an elaborate discussion on the significance of the letters at the end. Similarly, in his ‘Sahitya Biksha’ (1965), a collection of critical essays on Champu, Shri Pattanayak has reviewed the ‘Kishore Chandrananda Champu’ by Kabisurjya Baladev Rath from the view point of poetics and musicology and proved that it is a successful work from both aspects while fully manifesting the nine poetic sentiments. While critics could not determine whether Rudra Sudhanidhi, an epic work written prior to the initial phase of Odia literature, was prose or poetry, he studied it critically and concluded that it was a prose piece, and a prose piece written in musical style.

Later, ‘Odia Bhasha O Bhasha Bigyan’ (1985), ‘Laghu Katha’– a collection of essays in lighter vein, and ‘Kisa Puni Dekhanajaae’ (1998) were published. He argues that he has tried to clean the social filth through the essays in ‘Laghu Katha’. Like the ‘Odia Bhasha O Bhasha Bigyan’ meant for study in higher education classes, he also wrote ‘Bahubhashika Siksha’ for primary education programme in Odisha. His ‘Odia Sahityara Bibidhata’ and ‘Bhasha O Sahitya’ were published in (2016). Besides these, Shri Pattanayak has written a short auto-biography titled ‘Anek Jivan’ (2001) which reflects his varied activities and experiences in different fields.

Shri Pattanayak has been highly honoured by various national and international organisations for his committed work in the field of language and literature. The honours include ‘Padma Shri’ (1987) by the President of India, ‘Assam Sahitya Samman’ (1982), ‘Jawaharlal Nehru Fellow’ (1987), Award by the Kendra Lalit Kala Akademi, Eighth ‘Kala Mela Samman’ of Bangalore (1993), ‘Himachal Pradesh Rajya Sikhar Samman’ (1995) and ‘Jawaharlal Nehru Literacy Award’ (1999). Inside Odisha, he has been honoured with the (Vishuv Milan Award (1956) by the Prajatantra Prachar Samiti, ‘Odisha Pathak Samaj Puraskar’ (2001), felicitation by the Utkal Sahitya Samaj (2008), ‘Mansingh Samman’ by the Sarala Sahitya Samsad (2008), Kalinga Sahitya Samman (2014), and Tigiria Samman in 2011 which he considers as the best award he ever received in his life. He was also honoured and felicitated by national public undertakings like RSP and Nalco. Now Shri Pattanayak is 92 years old and still active in his field.

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