Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury
1863–1915
Biography
Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury (1863–1915) was a Bengali writer, illustrator, printer and publisher, and one of the people who shaped children's books in Bengal. He was born in a village in what was then Mymensingh district and is now in Bangladesh, and he spent most of his working life in Calcutta, where he died at the age of fifty-two. He trained as a painter and became a respected printing expert. He is credited with introducing half-tone and color block-making to South Asia, and he ran the printing firm U. Ray and Sons, which produced finely detailed reproductions of pictures.
He began writing for young readers while still a student, and his illustrated stories, rhymes and tales made him a central figure in Bengali children's literature. He also wrote popular books on geology and astronomy for young readers, and he wrote instruction books on the violin and the harmonium. In 1913 he founded the children's magazine Sandesh, which was later edited by his son Sukumar Ray, the author of comic nonsense verse, and afterwards by his grandson, the film-maker Satyajit Ray.
Two of his books are on this site under their Bengali titles. গুপি গাইন ও বাঘা বাইন is a fantasy about a singer and a drummer who meet a king of ghosts and receive magical gifts; Satyajit Ray later made it into the film Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne in 1969. টুনটুনির বই is a well-loved collection of stories for children. Together they show the inventive side of a man who also worked closely on the science of printing.
This biography was written by a language model. The sources below are where to check it; treat details with care.
Books
গুপি গাইন ও বাঘা বাইন
by উপেন্দ্রকিশোর রায়চৌধুরী
Gupi, a village singer who cannot sing, and Bagha, a drummer who cannot drum, are cast out of their village and wander into a forest where the king of ghosts grants them three wishes. Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury's story, first printed in 1915 and later made into a famous film…
Summary written by Claude Sonnet 5.5.টুনটুনির বই
by উপেন্দ্রকিশোর রায়চৌধুরী
A collection of short folk tales, first printed in 1910, that follow the little tailorbird, Tuntuni, and her friends and enemies, the cat, the jackal, the king and the barber. Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury wrote them in plain, spoken Bengali for children, and they are still the…
Summary written by Claude Sonnet 5.5.