Mayadhar MansinhaMayadhar Mansinha (also spelled Mansingh) (13 November 1905 - 11 October 1973) was a towering literary figure in Odia literature in the mid-twentieth century. The bulk of Mansinha's writings are in Odia, the language of some 40 million people, of Odiha State, India. His first book, Dhoopa (Incense), a bouquet of romantic poems, was published in 1931, while he was still a student. With Dhoopa Mansinha helped usher in the modern era in Odia literature. He continued to write extensively, with outpourings of poetry, drama, essays, and criticisms and became recognized as a romantic poet and a literary genius. The University of Durham awarded him a Ph.D. in English in 1939, based on a dissertation comparing the works of two giants of literature, Kalidasa, and Shakespeare. He authored some 80 books, and edited two newspapers and several literary magazines, among them Sankha and Jhankara. His writings in English include the History of Oriya Literature (1962), Saga of the Land of Jagannath (1971) and Ripples on the Mahanadi (1971) and numerous English articles in newspapers and journals. His contributions to literature were recognized with the award of Padmashri in 1967 by the Government of India. Read More Read Less