Biography
Dr. Prabhakar Machwe was born on 26th December, 1917, in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, India. He dedicated more than 50 years of his life to writing in Hindi, Marathi and English. He journey with writing began as early as when he was a student pursuing graduation from Vikram University, Ujjain. He continued studying and writing simultaneously as he did Masters in Philosophy, English Literature, Sahitya Ratna and PHD.
During initial years of his career, Dr. Machwe worked for All India Radio, Allahabad and Nagpur from 1948-54. He was invited by Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru and President Dr. Radhakrishanan to establish Sahitya Academy (National Academy of Letters) in 1954. His vast knowledge, literary acumen and scholarly leadership contributed in developing Sahitya Academy an Institution of national and International importance and pride.
He was a prolific writer and wrote over 100 books in all three languages Marathi, Hindi, and English. Range of his writing included translations, fiction, poetry, collection of short stories, biographies, children’s books, travelogues, satire, criticism, edited volumes, reviews and other miscellaneous subjects.
He was a linguist and an authority on Indian Literature. He received many national and international awards and citations. He was also a Full Bright Scholar. He taught Indian Literature, Religion and Culture, Philosophy, Gandhism in many universities in United States of America. He was invited for lecture tours to countries like Germany, Russia, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Japan, and Thailand etc.
After retiring from Sahitya Academy in 1975, he spent 2 years at the Institute of Advance Studies, Shimla from 1976-1977. He then moved as Director of Bharatiya Bhasha Parishad, Kolkata (1979-1985). His spent his last few years in Indore as Chief Editor of a Hindi Daily, Chautha Sansar from 1988-1991.
A lesser-known fact about him is that he was also an artist. He learnt painting at JJ School of Art, Indore. He was a contemporary of M.F. Husain and Bendre. He was an accomplished painter and sketcher. His sketches are compiled in a book called ‘Shabd Rekha’.
He continued writing and sharing his ideas with the world through multiple mediums knowledge till the end beckoned him on 17th June1991.