He was born on 19 August 1907 at Dubey-ka-Chhapra village in Ballia district of Uttar Pradesh in a traditional family famous for astrologers. His father Pandit Anamol Dwivedi was a learned Sanskrit scholar. Dwivedi had his early education until middle examination at his village school. After completing his intermediate, he also studied Jyotisha and Sanskrit at a traditional school to qualify for 'AchArya' degree in astrology and 'Shastri' degree in Sanskrit.
Career
Hazari Prasad Dwivedi joined Visva Bharati in 1930. He taught Sanskrit and Hindi, and was engaged in research and creative writing. He stayed on in Santiniketan for two decades. He helped to found the Hindi Bhavana and was its head for many years. During his stay at Shantiniketan, he came in close contact with Rabindranath Tagore and other prominent figures of Bengali literature. He came to imbibe the subtleties of Bengali, the aesthetic sensibilities of Nandalal Bose, the search for roots of Kshitimohan Sen and the gentle but piercing humour of Gurudayal Mallik. These influences are evident in his later writings. He left Shantiniketan in 1950 and became Reader in the Hindi Department at the Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, where Dr. Jagannath Prasad Sharma was the Professor and Head of the Department. Dwivedi Ji served there till 1960. While in this position, he was also appointed as a Member of the first Official Language Commission set up in 1955 by Indian Government. In 1960 he joined Panjab University, Chandigarh, as Professor and Head of its Hindi Department, a post that he held till his retirement.
Works
Hazari Prasad Dwivedi's was very best sahityakar contributions to Indian creative and critical writings are phenomenal and his interests diverse. He wrote the following important works in Literary History and Criticism:
Sahitya ki Bhumika
Hindi Sahitya ka Adikala
The above writings of his gave a new direction to the history of criticism in the Hindi literature. He also published his historical analysis of medieval religious life of India in following books:
Kabir
Madhyakalin Dharma Sadhana
Natha Sampradaya
His work on medieval saint Kabir is considered a masterpiece, and is a thoroughly researched analysis of Kabir's thought, works, and teachings. He was also am eminent novelist. His novels revolved around Historical themes and personages. His following Historical Novels are considered classics:
