OBITUARY : Sukumari Bhattacharji

On 24 May 2014 one of the outstanding Indologists of our times breathed her last. The journey of Sukumari Bhattacharji ended in Kolkata’s SSKM Hospital at the age of nighty-three. Bengal lost one of the brightest stars from its sky. The academic community lost one of its most respected members. The progressive secular movement lost one of its strongest exponents. She was one of the most distinguished and versatile academicians whose areas of interest covered diverse topics. Her research reflects a rare combination of profound scholarship in Sanskrit and an inquiring \ Marxist outlook pledged to atheism. She could deal with subjects from the Vedas, Ramayana, Mahabharata, writings of Sudraka, Bhasa, Manu, Yajnavalkya, Vatsyayana or Kautilya with equal capability. Her materialist scrutiny threw new light on ancient Indian philosophical and religious literature. She belonged to the rare breed of scholars who had equal grasp of English and Sanskrit literature. She had equal command on the Kalidas, Aeschylus, Aristophanes, Dante, Goethe, Shakespeare.