Vishnushastri Chiplunkar

Vishnushastri Chiplunkar Biography

Vishnushastri Chiplunkar was a Marathi writer who wrote works in modern Marathi prose style. He was the son of the writer and scholar Krushnashastri Chiplunkar. In association with his father, he has translated a few works to Marathi including Rasselas by Samuel Johnson, Kadambari by Banabhatta and The Arabian Nights. He was one among the founding members of the newspapers Kesari in Marathi and Maratha in English. In 1878, Chiplunkar founded another monthly named Kavyetihas Sangraha. He is remembered for monthly Nibandhamala, which he started in 1874.

Vishnushastri was born in Pune in a Chitpavan Brahmin family as the son of noted writer, Krushnashastri Chiplunkar on 20 May 1850. He obtained his B.A. from Deccan College, Pune in 1872. After completing his college studies, he joined as a teacher and worked in government schools during the years 1872-1879. Together with Gopal Ganesh Agarkar and Bal Gangadhar Tilak, he founded the newspapers Kesari in Marathi and Maratha in English. He was also a co-founder of 'The New English School' in Pune.

He started a monthly magazine, Kavyetihas Sangraha in the year 1978. His aim was to popularize poetry and history of Maharashtra among common man. He also established two printing presses, namely Aryabhushan Press and Chitrasala the same year. In 1879 he opened a bookshop named Kitabkhana which distributed inspirational books written by Marathi writers.

He started his writing career in the year 1868, with his articles in the periodical Shalapatrak. This periodical was started by his father. He wrote critics works of ancient Sanskrit poets like Kalidasa and Bhavabhuti. Those works were later republished as Sanskrit Kavipanchak. He later became the editor of Shalapatrak. He published articles about the conduct of the British Government and Christian Missionaries which proved controversial resulting in the closure of Shalapatrak in 1875. He died at a younger age of 32.

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Updated: February 19, 2014