Aslam Farrukhi


Aslam Farrukhi, was an Urdu author, literary critic, linguist, scholar and radio scriptwriter from Pakistan. He is also known for writing children's books. He remained associated as a Professor and Chairman with the Department of Urdu, University of Karachi, for many years.

Early life

Aslam Farrukhi was born on 23 October 1923 into a literary family of Lucknow, British India. His ancestors had come to Lucknow from the nearby town Farrukhabad, hence the family name being used here is Farrukhi. Most of his family members were poets and writers. His wife Taj Begum Farrukhi was great grand-daughter of the noted Urdu novelist Deputy Nazir Ahmad. After the independence of Pakistan in 1947, he with his family migrated to Karachi, Pakistan in September 1947.
He completed his education from the then Federal Urdu College, now known as Federal Urdu University and the University of Karachi. His PhD degree thesis was on the 19th century noted writer Muhammad Husain Azad which won the Adamjee Literary Award in 1965.

Career

He started out his career at Radio Pakistan as a scriptwriter for radio plays. Later Aslam Farrukhi taught at Sindh Muslim College, now known as Sindh Madressatul Islam University and at Karachi University, where he also served as registrar. His son is scholar Asif Farrukhi who also was a co-founder of Karachi Literature Festival. He was associated as professor and retired as chairman with the Department of Urdu, University of Karachi, for many years, and with Radio Pakistan for more than six years. He was among the country's few writers of children's literature.

Awards and recognition

Aslam Farrukhi died on June 15, 2016 in Gulshan e Iqbal, Karachi and was buried in Karachi University Graveyard on June 16, 2016 after Zohar Prayer. Among the survivors are his wife and two sons.