Writer, critic and philosopher Abu Sayeed Ayyub passed away on this day. He was 76.
He was born in an Urdu-speaking family, but moved by the poems of Rabindranath Tagore, taught himself Bengali. His contribution to Bengali literature and scholarship is immense. He is considered to be one of the most eminent Tagore scholars.
He studied physics at Presidency College. He was interested in Einstein’s theory of relativity. But he went on to study philosophy for his MA and worked on a thesis titled ‘Content of Error in Perception and Thought’ that was supervised by the philosopher, and later the President of India, Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan.
Ayyub announced his arrival in the world of letters with a series of essays in the 1930s on the intersections between literature, aesthetics, science and philosophy, in the leading literary journal Porichoy. He co-edited the first volume of modern Bengali poetry. Literary studies by him, such as Adhunikata O Rabindranath (Modernism and Tagore), were regarded as important for understanding Tagore.
He taught philosophy at Calcutta University, Visva-Bharati University and for a short period, University of Melbourne.
He often could not take up work assignments because of continuous ill health. Ayyub also edited the literary and philosophical journal Quest.
He was a friend of revolutionary M.N. Roy, and later, a passionate supporter of the Bangladesh’s war of independence.