Vrindavan Lal Verma
Dr. Vrindavan Lal Verma, the celebrated litterateur of Hindi was born on January 9, 1889 in Mauranipur (Jhansi).
Histroy was his first love from his early childhood. Despite his different pursuits to make a living, he continued to take abiding interest in the study and writing of literature. He has as many as 70 published books to his credit and many of his literary works are yet to be published. Though he contributed to Hindi literature through his writings in almost all streams of literature viz. novels, stories, plays, one-act plays, biographies, etc., he was at his best as a historical novelist. It is generally said that in a historical novel, either the History or the novel itself is the casualty. But Dr. Verma belied this belief. In his historical novels, all the elements of history and novel have remained vibrant and unimpaired. His all-time famous novels Jhansi Ki Rani, Mrignayani, Garh Kundar, Kachnar, Virata Ki Padmini, Toote Kante, Madhavji Scindia, etc. are part of the invaluable treasure of Hindi literature. A good number of his novels have been translated not only in the main regional languages of India but also in Russian, English, Czech, Spanish, German and Chinese languages. Two of his novels, namely Jhansi Ki Rani and Mrignayni have already been serialised on TV and films have also been made.
Dr. Verma’s style of writing was so lucid and engrossing that it took the readers to a rapturous height and he is appropriately called ‘Sir Walter Scott’ of Hindi literature.
His literary services won him numerous awards and degrees. He has been honoured with ‘Padma Bhushan’ and the Agra University conferred on him the honorary degree of D.Lit. Sahitya Sammelan, Prayag adorned him with the title of ‘Sahitya Vachaspati’. He was also honoured with several other prestigious awards such as ‘Soviet Land Nehru Puraskar’. The President released a postal stamp in Dr. Verma’s honour on 9th January, 1997.
This titan of Hindi literature breathed his last on 23rd February, 1969 in Jhansi.
मूर्द्धन्य उपन्यासकार श्री वृंदावनलाल वर्मा का जन्म 9 जनवरी, 1889 को मऊरानीपुर ( झाँसी) में एक कुलीन श्रीवास्तव कायस्थ परिवार में हुआ था । इतिहास के प्रति वर्माजी की रुचि बाल्यकाल से ही थी । अत: उन्होंने कानून की उच्च शिक्षा के साथ-साथ इतिहास, राजनीति, दर्शन, मनोविज्ञान, संगीत, मूर्तिकला तथा वास्तुकला का गहन अध्ययन किया ।
ऐतिहासिक उपन्यासों के कारण वर्माजी को सर्वाधिक ख्याति प्राप्त हुई । उन्होंने अपने उपन्यासों में इस तथ्य को झुठला दिया कि ' ऐतिहासिक उपन्यास में या तो इतिहास मर जाता है या उपन्यास ', बल्कि उन्होंने इतिहास और उपन्यास दोनों को एक नई दृष्टि प्रदान की ।
आपकी साहित्य सेवा के लिए भारत सरकार ने आपको ' पद्म भूषण ' की उपाधि से विभूषित किया, आगरा विश्वविद्यालय ने डी.लिट. की मानद् उपाधि प्रदान की । उन्हें ' सोवियत लैंड नेहरू पुरस्कार ' से भी सम्मानित किया गया तथा ' झाँसी की रानी ' पर भारत सरकार ने दो हजार रुपए का पुरस्कार प्रदान किया । इनके अतिरिक्त उनकी विभिन्न कृतियों के लिए विभिन्न संस्थाओं ने भी उन्हें सम्मानित व पुरस्कृत किया ।
वर्माजी के अधिकांश उपन्यासों का प्रमुख प्रांतीय भाषाओं के साथ- साथ अंग्रेजी, रूसी तथा चैक भाषाओं में भी अनुवाद हुआ है । आपके उपन्यास ' झाँसी की रानी ' तथा ' मृगनयनी ' का फिल्मांकन भी हो चुका है ।
Books by Vrindavan Lal Verma
