Hemanga Biswas

• Name — Hemanga Biswas • Pronunciation — hemaŋɡo biʃːaʃ • Native Name — হেমাঙ্গ বিশ্বাস • Born — 14 December 1912 • Birthplace — Mirashi, Habiganj, Sylhet, Assam Province, British India (now Bangladesh) • Died — 22 November 1987 • Place of death — Calcutta, West Bengal, India • Citizenship — * British Indian (1912–1947) • Indian (1947–1987) • Occupation — * Singer • songwriter • composer • author • theatre artist • political activist • Years Active — 1930–1978 • Works — * Discography • bibliography • Political Party — Indian People's Theatre Association • Movement — Indian independence movement • Criminal Charges — Anti-British activism • Criminal Penalty — Imprisonments

Biswas was born in a Bengali Hindu family of Habiganj, Sylhet, British India (now in Bangladesh) on 14 December 1912 to Harakumar and Sarojini Biswas. He went to the Middle English School in Habiganj. He studied at the George Institution of Dibrugarh from 1925 to 1927 when Nilmoni Phukan was its headmaster. There he became interested in Assamese culture. He attended Habiganj Government High School in 1930. He also studied in MC College, Sylhet from 1930 to 1931. Biswas embraced the values of communism during his college years and wrote poems and plays on equal rights. During this time he started performing "gana sangeet." He did not complete his formal education. Biswas became involved in a movement to ensure the rights of tea garden laborers, farmers, and the underprivileged throughout the region. For his political convictions, he was arrested in 1930. He was also associated with the Indian People's Theatre Association. He married Ranu Dutta, a high school teacher, in 1959. Their son, Moinak Biswas (professor of Film Studies at Jadavpur University & filmmaker), was born in 1960 and their daughter, Rongili Biswas (a writer & professor of Economics) was born in 1967.

• Illustration — Hemanga with Debabrata Biswas, Omar Sheikh, Niranjan Sen and others. Hemanga Biswas was responsible for a number of popular Bengali songs. A fierce debate once ensued between Salil Choudhury and him on the method of translating the ideal of people's art: He sang a duet with Bhupen Hazarika, Debabrata Biswas and Pete Seeger. Through his music, he had hoped to motivate the masses to fight for their rights, for them to be united, and for them to be vocal against any form of corruption. His beliefs in equal rights for all led him to repeatedly try to request and urge the then Congress Government headed by Siddhartha Shankar Roy to extend a helping hand to the labour class people. Banchbo Re Banchbo Amra was composed to motivate the laborers to improve their standard of living. His translation of The Internationale into Bengali and his singing of such songs as Amra Karbo Joy, Ajadi Hoyni Tor, and Negro Bhai Amar aided the Bengali leftist movement. He was influenced by Bhawaiya and Bhatiali, and generated his own style, which combined those folk traditions with Sylhet culture's, which he called Bahirana. He formed Mass Singers (a group for mass songs) in or around 1978.

Hemanga Biswas was the playback singer in Meghe Dhaka Tara (The Cloud Capped Star) (1960), Lalon Fakir (Deha Tari Dilam Chhariyo), Utpal Datta's Kallol, and Komal Gandhar.

• Bishan (বিষাণ, 1943) • Shimantô Prôhôri (সীমান্ত প্রহরী, 1961) • Shônkhôchiler Gan (শঙ্খচিলের গান, 1975) • Amar Gan (আমার গান) • Abar Chin Dekhe Elam (আবার চীন দেখে এলাম, 1975) • Chin Theke Phire (চীন থেকে ফিরে, 1977) • Lokôshôngit Shômikkha: Bangla O Assam (লোকসংগীত সমীক্ষা: বাংলা ও আসাম, 1978) • Hemanga Biswaser Gan (হেমাঙ্গ বিশ্বাসের গান, 1980) • Ujan Gang Baiya (উজান গাঙ বাইয়া, 1990) • Ganer Bahirana (গানের বাহিরানা, 1998) • Hemanga Biswas Rôchônashôngrôhô 1 (হেমাঙ্গ বিশ্বাস রচনাসংগ্রহ ১, 2012)

• Kul Khurar Sûtal (কুল খুৰাৰ চোতাল, 1985) • Akôu Sin Sai Ahilû̃ Volume I (আকৌ চীন চাই আহিলোঁ ১ম খণ্ড, 1975) • Akôu Sin Sai Ahilû̃ Volume II (আকৌ চীন চাই আহিলোঁ ২য় খণ্ড, 1977) • Jiwônxilpi Jyotiprasad (জীৱনশিল্পী জ্যোতিপ্ৰসাদ, 1983) • Ôxôm Aru Bôngôr Lûkô-Xôngit Xômikkhya (অসম আৰু বঙ্গৰ লোক-সঙ্গীত সমীক্ষা) • Hemanga Biswas Rôsônawôli (হেমাঙ্গ বিশ্বাস ৰচনাৱলী, 2008)