Ashapurna Devi was the first woman to win the Jnanapith Award in 1976 for her work ‘Pratham Pratisruti’ in Bengali. This prominent Bengali novelist and poet was also known as Ashapurna Debi or also as Asha Purna Devi.

She was also awarded the ‘Padma Shri’ by the Government of India in the same year 1976.

Ashapurna Devi was born on January 08th, 1909 in Potoldanga, Calcutta (now Kolkata). She passed away aged 86 in 1995.

The Jnanapith Award is a literary award in India. Alongwith the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship it is one of the 2 most prestigious literary honours in the country. The Jnanapith award was instituted in 1961.

The name of the award is taken from the Sanskrit words ‘jnana’ and ‘pitha’ (knowledge-seat). It carries a cheque for Rupees 11 lakhs, a citation plaque and a bronze replica of Saraswati, the Indian Goddess of knowledge, music and the arts.

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