Who is the first woman to receive Sahitya Academy Award?

Asked 27-Feb-2018
Viewed 1197 times

1 Answer


0

Who is the first woman to receive Sahitya Academy Award?

Amrita Pritam (31 August 1919 – 31 October 2005) was an eminent Indian novelist, essayist, and poet, who wrote in Punjabi and Hindi language. She is considered the first distinguished woman Punjabi poet, novelist, essayist and the leading twentieth-century poet of the Punjabi language, who's perfectly portrayed her views on each aspect of the India–Pakistan border.  

With a profession spanning over sixty years, she authored over 100 books of poetry, fiction, biographies, essays, a collection of Punjabi people songs and an autobiography that had been all translated into numerous Indian and foreign languages.  
In 1956, she became the first woman to win the Sahitya Akademi Award for her magnum opus, an extended poem- Sunehade". She had an unsuccessful affair with Sahir Ludhianvi who was a prominent lyricist of that era.