Famed Hindi author Namwar Singh dies at 92

Noted Hindi author and literary critic Namvar Singh died at the age of 92 in Delhi late on Tuesday night. Singh breathed his last at 11.51 pm at the AIIMS Trauma Centre. The cremation will take place on Wednesday afternoon at the Lodhi Road crematorium. "The Hindi literary world has plunged into darkness. Noteworthy thinker and a harbinger of hindi literature passed away," Hindi writer, senior journalist, editor and critic Om Thanvi said in a Facebook post.

Birth and early life:

Singh was born on July 28, 1926 in Varanasi. After receiving a PhD degree from the Banaras Hindu University, Singh started his teaching career at the same university and was a professor of Hindi literature in other universities. Well, known author, Kashinath Singh is Namwar Singh's younger brother. 

Prominent works:

Singh has authored over a dozen works, prominent among them are 'Kavita Ke Naye Pratiman', ' Chhayavaad' and 'Dusari Parampara Ki Khoj', among others.

Career:

• Singh was the first chairman of the Jawaharlal Nehru University’s Centre of Indian Languages.
• He retired from the university in 1992 but continued to remain as a 'professor emeritus.'
• The author had been the editor of magazines 'Janyug' and 'Alochana'.
• Singh had been the former president of the All India Progressive Writers' Association (AIPWA).
• Singh had contested and lost the Lok Sabha elections as a Communist Party of India (CPI) candidate in 1959 from Chandauli in Uttar Pradesh.

Awards:

He received the Sahitya Akademi award for literary criticism in 1971 for 'Kavita Ke Naye Pratiman'.