Anant Kanekar


Anant Atmaram Kanekar was a Marathi writer from Maharashtra, India.
He was born in Mumbai on 2 December 1905.

Education and career

Kanekar finished his high school studies in 1923 at Chikitsak Samuha Shirolkar High School in Girgaon, Mumbai. After receiving from Mumbai University a bachelor's degree and a law degree in 1927 and 1929, respectively, Kanekar practiced law for about four years.
Through publication of a collection of his poems in 1933 and a collection of his short personal essays the next year, Kanekar had established himself by 1935 as a successful writer. Leaving the legal profession in 1935, he worked during the next five years as an editor of, first, weekly Chitra and then weekly Asha.
In 1941, he joined Khalsa College in Mumbai, and moved on to Siddarth College in the same city five years later, both in a professorial capacity. He stayed at the latter college as a professor for many years.

Literary work

Poetry

In 1933, in collaboration with four littérateurs interested like him in promoting stage plays, Kanekar co-founded Natya Manvantar. The organization successfully presented for some years several stage performances. Kanekar wrote a few of the plays --Nishikantachi Nawari is one of them—and also performed in a few plays.
He also translated the play " DOLL'S HOUSE" by Ibsen as "GHARKUL" which was probably best transformation of original.

Honors

Kanekar presided over Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan in Aurangabad in 1957.
Mumbai University holds a series of lectures in his memory.