He fought against the british during the non-cooperation movement and was later arrested for political activism. Turning to literature after his release in 1930, he published his first novel
Chaitali Ghurni in 1932 and met Rabindranath Tagore. Over the years, he presided over major literary conferences and received several prestigious awards including the Rabindra Puraskar, Sahitya Akademi Award, JnanpitTarasankar Bandyopadhyay, a renowned Bengali writer, was born in Labhpur, Birbhum, in British India. Educated at St. Xavier's and South Suburban College, he became involved in theh Award, Padma Shri, and Padma Bhushan. He served in both the West Bengal Legislative Council and Rajya Sabha. Bandyopadhyay died in 1971. In 2021, his ancestral home was turned into a museum preserving his legacy. Bandyopadhyay was born at his ancestral home at
Labhpur village in
Birbhum district,
Bengal Province,
British India (now West Bengal, India) to Haridas Bandyopadhyay and Prabhabati Devi. Grandfather name Jadavlal Bandyopadhyay. He passed the Matriculation examination from Labhpur Jadablal H. E. School in 1916 and was later admitted first to
St. Xavier's College, Calcutta and then to South Suburban College (now
Asutosh College). While studying in intermediate at St. Xavier's College, he joined the
non-co-operation movement. He could not complete his university course due to ill health and political activism. During these college years, he was also associated with a radical militant youth group and was arrested and interned in his village. He was arrested in 1930 for actively supporting the
Indian independence movement, but released later that year. After that he decided to devote himself to literature. In 1932, he met
Rabindranath Tagore at
Santiniketan for the first time. His first novel
Chaitali Ghurni was published on the same year. In 1940, he rented a house at
Bagbazar and brought his family to Calcutta. In 1941, he moved to
Baranagar. In 1942, he presided over the Birbhum District Literature Conference and became the president of the Anti-Fascist Writers and Artists Association in Bengal. In 1944, he presided over the Kanpur Bengali Literature Conference arranged by the non-resident Bengalis living there. In 1947, he inaugurated Prabasi Banga Sahitya Sammelan held in Calcutta; presided over the Silver Jubilee Prabasi Banga Sahitya Sammelan in Bombay; and received Sarat Memorial Medal from the
University of Calcutta. In 1948, he moved to his own house at Tala Park, Calcutta. In 1952, he was nominated to be a member of the legislative assembly. He was a member of the West Bengal Vidhan Parishad between 1952–60. In 1954, he took
Diksha from his mother. In the same year he scripted and directed a film,
Naa, based on his own story. In 1955, he was awarded the
Rabindra Puraskar by the
Government of West Bengal. In 1956, he received the
Sahitya Akademi Award. In 1957 he visited
Soviet Union to join the preparatory committee of the
Afro-Asian Writers' Association and later went to
Tashkent at an invitation from the Chinese Government as the leader of the Indian Writers delegation at the Afro-Asian Writers' Association. In 1959, he received the Jagattarini Gold Medal from the University of Calcutta, and presided over All India Writer's Conference in
Madras. In 1960, he retired from the West Bengal Legislative Assembly but was nominated to the
Parliament by the
President of India. He was a member of
Rajya Sabha between 1960–66. In 1962, he received
Padma Shri; but the death of his son-in-law broke his heart and to keep himself diverted he took to painting and making wooden toys. In 1963, he received Sisirkumar Award. In 1966, he retired from the Parliament and presided over Nagpur Bengali Literature Conference. In 1966, he won the
Jnanpith Award and in 1969, he received
Padma Bhushan and was honoured with the title of Doctor of Literature by the University of Calcutta and the
Jadavpur University. In 1969, he was given the fellowship of
Sahitya Akademi, in 1970 became the president of
Bangiya Sahitya Parishad/
Vangiya Sahitya Parishad. In 1971, he gave the Nripendrachandra Memorial Lecture at
Visva-Bharati University and D. L. Roy Memorial Lecture at the University of Calcutta. Bandyopadhyay died at his Calcutta residence early in the morning on 14 September 1971. His last rites were performed at the Nimtala Cremation Ground, North Calcutta. ==Family members and relatives==