Bhagwati Charan Verma

Bhagwati Charan Verma (30 August 1903 – 5 October 1981), was one of the leading writers in Hindi. He wrote many novels, his best work was Chitralekha (1934), which was made into two successful Hindi films, 1941 and 1964. He was awarded Sahitya Akademi Award for his epic five-part novel, Bhoole Bisre Chitra in 1961 and Padma Bhushan in 1971.He was also nominated to Rajya Sabha in 1978

Verma was born on 30 August 1903 in Safipur, Uttar Pradesh, India,where he received his early education. He also spent some years living with his extended family at the ancestral home in Patkapur.Thereafter he studied in The Sophical School, and went on to do his B.A. L.L.B. from Allahabad University

After his education he practiced law at Kanpur and later at Hamirpur where he wrote his historic novel Chitralekha in 1934. Its success got him instant fame and started his literary career in which he went to write over 17 novels. He work at Calcutta Film Corporation for a while, followed by editing a weekly magazine, Vichaar. He also did screenwriting in Bombay, and later edited a Hindi daily Navjeevan; and finally he started writing independently in 1957.

He also served as a Hindi advisor at All India Radio, Lucknow and later in 1978, he was nominated to the Upper House of Indian Parliament, Rajya Sabha. He died on 5 October 1981. A park is named after him, in his birthplace, the town of Safipur.