Dhirubhai Premshankar Thaker

Born: 27 June 1918

Died: 22 January 2014

He was an Indian Gujarati writer, who was best known for creating the Gujarati Vishwakosh, a 25-volume encyclopedia of the Gujarati language.
He had written ten works on criticism, seven collections of essays, two research works, three biographies including his autobiography.
He had also written on biographical play, two children’s plays, one travelogue and two translations.
He had edited four study works, sixteen literary works, nine collections (with others) and history of Gujarati literature.
He wrote a biography of Manilal Dwivedi entitled Manilal Nabhubhai: Jeevanrang.
He wrote a biographical play, Uncho Parvat Undi Khin (1993), based on the life of Manilal Dwivedi.
It was awarded a prize by Batubhai Umarvadia Centre for being the best play.
He was the recipient of the Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak, the highest literary award in Gujarati language, in 1994 and the Narmad Suvarna Chandrak in 2012.
He had received Sahitya Gaurav Puraskar in 1998.
He was awarded Padma Bhushan on 25 January 2014 for his contribution in the field of literature and education.