Eminent writer, critic and philosopher Abu Sayeed Ayyub passed away on this day.

He was born in an Urdu-speaking family in Calcutta. As a teenager, he read Tagore’s Gitanjali prose in Urdu and was inspired to learn Bengali.

He studied physics at Presidency College and completed his master’s in philosophy. His research supervisor was Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan.

His writings appeared in Parichay, the well-known Bengali literary magazine. He co-edited what is considered the first major anthology of modern Bengali poetry.

He wrote on religion, aesthetics and society. His interpretations of Tagore, in particular of Tagore’s poetry and plays, established him as one of the leading Tagore scholars.

His training in science added another dimension to his literary and philosophical writings.

He taught at Calcutta University, Visva-Bharati and later at the University of Melbourne. For a while, he edited the literary and philosophical journal Quest.

Ill health interrupted his work severaltimes throughout his career.

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