Ramanlal Soni

He was born on 25 January 1908 in Kokapur near Modasa in north Gujarat. He completed his school education in Modasa. In 1940, he completed BA from Agra University. He came back to Modasa and joined Modasa high school as a principal. He left job in 1945 to be involved in social work. He went to Yerwada Central Jail during satyagraha movement in 1932 where he learnt Bengali language. Later he served as a member of legislative assembly of Bombay state from 1952 to 1957. He died on 20 September 2006 at Ahmedabad.[1][2]

He wrote original as well as translated and adapted children's literature. He wrote stories, poems, rhymes, plays and biographies for them. Many of his stories and poems were published in Zagmag column of Gujarat Samachar in 1990s. His autobiography titled Rakh nu Pankhi was published in 1999. He translated Bengali literature in Gujarati. Some notable works include Gora, Chokher Bali, Rajarshi by Rabindranath Tagore; Shrikant by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay. He also translated works of Tarashankar Bandopadhyay and Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar.[1][2]

He was awarded Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak, the highest literary award in Gujarati language, in 1996. He also received Gujarat Gaurav Puraskar by Government of Gujarat in 1999.

• List of Gujarati-language writers