Professor Emeritus Dr Amaresh Datta passed away on Thursday at his residence in eastern Assam’s Dibrugarh.
At the age of 102, he breathed his last after prolonged illness.
Dr Datta retired from English department of Guwahati University.
Dr Datta was awarded Krishna Kanta Handiqui National award 2018 instituted by Krishna Kanta Handiqui State Open University.
Assam government has declared state funeral after his demise.
His cremation will be done at Chowkidinghee crematorium with state honour.
Notably, chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal himself presented the award at a function at India Club in Dibrugarh recently.
Datta is an authority on Shakespeare and his book Shakespeare’s Tragic Vision (1963) received a lot of appreciation from eminent scholars and critics like Professor G Wilson Knight, Dr EMW Tillyard, Professor AG Stock and several others.
His collection of poems Captive Moments (1952) bagged a prestigious award from the International Association of Poetry in Rome.
Some of his published works are – Captive Moments (A collection of poems), Shakespeare’s Tragic Vision and Art, Time’s Harvest (A collection of poems on selected episodes from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata), Lotus and the Cross (A poetic play- a trilogy) and several others.
Professor Datta visited the Soviet Union in 1987 as a member of the cultural delegation sponsored by the Government of India.
Prof Datta started his career in Madhya Pradesh in the 1950s and later on moved to Gauhati University from where he retired in the 1980s.
In recognition to his scholarship and teaching achievements, he was honoured by Gauhati University as Professor Emeritus.