A Devotee of Nationalist Literature

Eminent Hindi scholar and founder of Prabhat Prakashan, the country’s leading publisher of nationalist literature in New Delhi, Shyamsunderji passed away on December 28, 2019 at the age of 92. He is survived by his three sons—Pawan Agrawal, Prabhat Kumar and Piyush Kumar and two daughters—Sarala Bhushan and Poonam Gupta. His wife, Smt Saroj Agrawal, had passed away on January 31, 2016.

As per his wish, his eyes were donated. He will be remembered as the staunch lover of Hindi. The goal of his life was to provide the best literature of different world languages to the Hindi readers.

Born and brought up in Mathura, Shyamsunderji had primary education in Mathura only. He had his graduation, post-graduation and law degrees from the Allahabad University, where he came in contact with the former RSS Sarsanghachalak Shri Rajju Bhaiya. In Allahabad only, he became a Sangh swayamsevak. Apart from his studies, he contributed to the expansion of Sangh work there.

Shyamsunderji founded Prabhat Prakashan in 1958. Gradually, his tireless efforts made it the distinguished publisher in Hindi literature. He published Hindi translation of the original works by eminent writers including Tolstoy, Mark Twain, Oscar Wilde, Charles Dickens, Anton Chekhov, etc. He also motivated many budding writers by publishing their books. He published the books by Swami Vivekananda, Swami Rama Tirtha, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay, Rabindranath Tagore. Many of these books were endorsed by Field Marshal Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw.

Shyamsunderji also published the books by former President of India Dr Rajendra Prasad, Dr Shankar Dayal Sharma & Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, former Prime Minister Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee, former Deputy Prime Minister Shri Lal Krishna Advani and now the present Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. He enjoyed a close association with the eminent literary persons like Vrindavanlal Verma, Laxmi Mall Singhvi, Mahadevi Verma, Prabhakar Machwe, Vijyendra Snatak, Vishnu Prabhakar, Vidya Niwas Mishra, Sachchidananda Hirananda Vatsyayan ‘Agyeya’. The Hindi translation of the books by world-famous writers including Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Nepolean Hill, Dale Carnegie, Louise Lynn Hay and Joseph Murphy, etc. was also published.

In 1995, he started ‘Sahitya Amrit’, a monthly magazine dedicated to Hindi literature with the inspiration of the then President of India Dr Shankar Dayal Sharma, under the guidance of Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee, and under the leadership of Pt Vidya Niwas Mishra. Today, it enjoys good readership across the country. Till the last day, he worked in his office, which indicates his commitment and devotion to the work.

Today, Prabhat Prakashan publishes average one title daily. Over 1000 writers are associated with it. More than 5000 Hindi titles and more than 600 English books have been published by it so far. Not only this, more than 1500 booksellers and over 50 translators are associated with the Prabhat Prakashan, the number one publisher of Hindi Bestsellers. Books have been published on over 75 subjects. In order to keep a pace with digital technology, over 5000 e-books have also been published.

He was also a shareholder of Bharat Prakashan (Delhi) Ltd., the publisher of Organiser & Panchjanya. Bharat Prakashan pays heartfelt tribute to the great worshiper of nationalist literature. A condolence meeting to pay tribute will be organised at Speaker’s Hall of Constitution Club of India in New Delhi on January 8, 2020, at 4.00 pm.