Nityananda Mahapatra

Nityananda Mahapatra (17 June 1912 – 17 April 2012)^[1] was an Indian Odia politician, poet and journalist.

Nityananda Mahapatra
Portrait of Nityananda Mahapatra
Member: Odisha Legislative Assembly
In office 1957–1971
Preceded by	Mahamad Hanif
Succeeded by	Harekrushna Mahatab
Constituency	Bhadrak
Personal details
Born	(1912-06-17)17 June 1912 Bhadrak, Bihar and Orissa Province, British India
Died	17 April 2012(2012-04-17) (aged 99) Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India
Cause of death	Respiratory Failure
Political party	Orissa Jana Congress
Occupation	Writer, politician
Awards	Sahitya Akademi Award,1987
Writing career
Notable works	Gharadiha

Political career

He was imprisoned three times by the British Raj between 1930 and 1942 for nationalist activities.^[2] He came to literary prominence as editor of the Odia magazine Dagara,^[3] and as a short story writer after independence.^[4] In his political career Mohapatra served as a member of the Odisha Legislative Assembly from 1957 to 1971^[5] and as state Minister of Supply and Cultural Affairs from 1967 to 1971.^[6]

Death

He died on 17 April 2012 at Kharavelanagar, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, from old age-related ailments. He was three months short of his 100th birthday.^[7]

Literary works

Mohapatra has translated the Ramavataram (also known as the Kamba Ramayanam), the Tamil version of the Ramayana, into Odia.^[8]: 214 Other works that he translated into Odia include Ramana Maharshee and Swarajya Sanghitaa.^[8]

Literary awards

Mahapatra received the Odisha Sahitya Academy Award in 1974^[9] and the Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award in 1987 for his novel Gharadiha.^[10]