Poet, folklorist and Ekushey Padak-winning writer Ashraf Siddiqui died at age 93 in Apollo Hospital in the capital at 3:15pm on Thursday.
Ashraf, who was the director general of Bangla Academy from 1976 to 1982, had been critically ill for over a month, said a press release.
His body was buried at Banani Graveyard following a namaj-e-janaza after Juhr prayers held at Dhanmondi Shahi Eidgah Mosque.
He is survived by three daughters and two sons.
Ashraf won many prestigious awards, including Ekushey Padak for literature in 1988, Bangla Academy Award for children’s literature in 1964, and the UNESCO award in 1966.
In a career spanning more than seven decades, he wrote many poems, short stories, novels, and children’s literature and engaged himself in academic research on folklore. Ashraf published 75 books and numerous journal articles.
Set against the backdrop of the Bengal famine, his poem Taleb Master written in 1948 very quickly established him as a poet of the masses. His short story Golir Dharer Chheleti augmented his literary reputation as a short story writer. The story was adapted into a national film award-winning film titled Dumurer Phool by eminent film maker Subhash Dutta.
Ashraf is also admired for preserving the Bengali oral folk culture by cataloguing the tales and riddles in the written form.
His books, Lok Shahitttya, Bengali Folklore, Our Folklore Our Heritage, Folkloric Bangladesh and Kingbodontir Bangla are considered primary text books for folklore researchers in South Asia.
He introduced the folk tales of Bengal to the global audience through his writings such as Bhombol Dass: The Uncle of Lion, and Toontoony and Other Stories. Bhombol Dass was published by Macmillan in 1959 and was translated into 11 languages.
Born at village Nagbari in Tangail on March 1, 1927, Ashraf was educated in Santiniketan, Dhaka University and Indiana University in the United States.
He taught at many government colleges, including Rajshahi College, Chittagong College, A M College of Mymensingh, Dhaka College and Jagannath College, and Dhaka University.
He served as the director of Kendrio Bangla Unnoyon Board, chief editor of District Gazetteer. He held a number of honorary positions, including chairman of Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, chairman of Bangladesh Press Institute and president of Nazrul Academy and Nazrul Institute, said the release.
Ekushey Book Fair took its institutional form in 1978 when Ashraf was the director general of the academy.
His lasting legacies are the Bangla Academy’s Ekushey Boi Mela which took its institutional form during his tenure as the director general of Bangladesh and the national Boishakhi Mela which was subsequently transferred to Shilpakala Academy. He played a key role in establishing Kabi Nazrul University in Trishal and articulated the demand for transforming Jagannath College into a university.