Urmi Desai

Urmi Ghanshyam Desai
At Ahmedabad, March 2018
At Ahmedabad, March 2018
Born (1938-04-05) 5 April 1938 (age 86)
Mumbai, India
OccupationWriter, linguist
LanguageGujarati
Notable works
  • Gujarati Bhashana Angasadhak Pratyayo (1967)
  • Gujarati Vyakaran Na Baso Varsh (2014)
Notable awardsSahitya Akademi Award (2017)
Spouse
(m. 1965)

Urmi Ghanshyam Desai (born 1938) is a Gujarati writer and linguist from Gujarat, India. She received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2017 for her critical work Gujarati Vyakaran Na Baso Varsh (published in 2014).[1][2]

She was born on 5 April 1938 in Mumbai to her mother, Rambhabahen, and her father, Kameshwar Vyas.[3] Her family originates from Chorvad. After matriculation in 1955, she completed her Bachelor of Arts (1961) and Master of Arts (1963) degrees on Gujarati and Sanskrit subjects. She received her PhD in 1967 under the supervision of Harivallabh Bhayani for her research work Gujarati Bhashana Angasadhak Pratyayo. In 1969, she completed her Diploma in Linguistics. She married Ghanshyam Desai, a Gujarati short story writer, in 1965.[3]

From 1965 to 1972, she worked at Mumbai University as a research assistant in the Linguistics department. From 1973 to 1981, she worked at the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Research Center and Library as a research officer. From 1984 to 1987, she worked in the post-graduate department of SNDT Women's University.[4]

She is considered one of the pioneer linguists in the Gujarati language, and has published several books such as Bhashashastra Shu Chhe? (1976), Gujarati Bhashana Angasadhak Pratyayo (1972), Vyakaran Vimarsh (1992), Let us Learn to write Gujarati (1999), Bhashanushang (2003), and Rupashastra - Ek Parichay (2007). She has also translated Prabodh Pandit's research work Prakrut Bhasha into Gujarati.[1]

  1. ^ a b Trivedi, Harshvadan (January 2018). Chauhan, Ajaysinh (ed.). "Introduction of Urmi Desai". Shabdasrishti. Gandhinagar: Gujarat Sahitya Akademi. pp. 24–26. ISSN 2319-3220.
  2. ^ "Sahitya Akademi announces 24 winners for annual awards". The Times of India. 21 December 2017. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  3. ^ a b Sharma, Radheshyam (2005). Saksharno Sakshatkar (Question-based Interviews with biographical literary sketches). Vol. 10. Ahmedabad: Rannade Prakashan. p. 239.
  4. ^ Topiwala, Chandrakant (1990). "Desai Urmi Ghanshyam". Gujarati Sahitya Kosh (Encyclopedia of Gujarati Literature). Vol. 2. Ahmedabad: Gujarati Sahitya Parishad. p. 247.