Mahasweta Devi was an Indian Bengali fiction writer and social activist. She was born on 14 January in 1926 in Dhaka, Bangladesh, British India. Her father, Manish Ghatak , was a well-known poet and novelist. Her brother was noted filmmaker Ritwik Ghatak . Her mother Dharitri Devi was also a writer.  

Mahasweta Devi’s first schooling was in Dhaka, but after the partition of India she moved to West Bengal in India. She completed a B.A. (Hons) in English, and then finished an M.A. in English at Calcutta University.

Devi wrote over 100 novels and over 20 collections of short stories.  Her first novel was Jhansir Rani. Her other notable works are Hajar Churashir Maa, Murti , Agnigarbha, Aranyer Adhikar , etc. She began teaching at Bijoygarh College. She also worked as a journalist and as a creative writer. 

Mahasweta Devi raised her voice several times against the discrimination of tribal people in India. Her novel Aranyer Adhikar was on the life of Munda. 

She was honoured with various literary awards such as the Sahitya Akademi Award, Jnanpith Award and Ramon Magsaysay Award along with India’s civilian awards the Padma Shri and the Padma Vibhushan.

Devi died of multiple organ failure on 28 July 2016, aged 90.