Dr. Muhammad Shahidullah -The Asian Age

Muhammad Shahidullah was a Bengali educationist, writer, philologist and linguist of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). In 2004, Shahidullah was ranked number 16 in BBC's poll of the Greatest Bengali of all time. Shahidullah was born in Peyara village, 24 Pargana, West Bengal (now in India) to a devoutly religious family. His father, Mafizuddin Ahmed, was a warden of a shrine. Shahidullah passed his school final Entrance exam in 1904 from Howrah Zilla School . Shahidullah made Professor Emeritus by the University of Dhaka (1967) for his lifetime contribution in research on language and literature. He was also awarded Chevalier De L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government in 1967 for his research on language and literature. In 1980 the Government of Bangladesh  awarded him Independence Award posthumously.