Manabendra Bandyopadhyay, a former professor of comparative literature at Jadavpur University, passed away on Tuesday. He was 82 and is survived by daughter Kaushalya.

Bandyopadhyay was among the five students of the first batch of the comparative literature department at JU, which was launched by poet Buddhadev Bose in 1956.

He had been admitted to a private hospital for a procedure, said a professor of the department. “The procedure went fine and he was supposed to go home. But he had some complications. His Covid test report came on Tuesday afternoon and it was positive,” the professor said.

Bandyopadhyay was widely known for translating Latin American literature into Bengali.

Ipshita Chanda, a JU teacher who did her PhD under him, said: “Death does not diminish professor Manabendra Bandyopadhyay’s presence as the scholar, translator and ‘rasika’ who introduced the Bengali reader to literatures of the ‘third world’ as well as to literatures in other Indian languages. Not only did he translate prolifically, he also, on principle, produced scholarly and creative work in Bangla, inspiring and encouraging his students to do the same. He was not only a PhD supervisor but a mentor, a guide and above all an understanding and humorous friend.”

Another teacher said he introduced Gabriel García Márquez in the syllabus of the department before the Latin American author won the Nobel prize.

“He was the one who translated Jules Verne in Bengali. Dev Sahitya Kutir would publish the abridged version initially. Later, as his expertise grew, he started coming up with unabridged versions,” said a teacher of the department.