Madan Gopal was born in 1919 at Hansi, Hissar and educated at CAV High School, Hissar, St Stephen’s College, Delhi and Punjab University. He carved a niche for himself in the world of literary biographies. Considered as ‘Premchand’s Boswell’, he wrote the first ever book on the life and work of Munshi Premchand in 1944, followed, 20 years later, by a full-length literary biography. His translation of Premchand’s short stories into English was published as The Shroud and Twenty-one other Stories of Premchand. He has also collected and published Premchand’s letters in two volumes. According to the Times Literary Supplement, ‘He has been largely responsible for introducing to Western readers the stories and novels of Premchand.’ Authentic, complete and accurate, his books are considered basic source material on Premchand. A newspaperman for over 18 years, working with the Civil and Military Gazette, Lahore, the Indian Express and the Statesman, Madan Gopal was also a civil servant for 24 years, retiring in 1977 and is the author of over 25 books, including the first book in English on Bharatendu Harischandra, regarded as the father of modern Hindi, the first literary biography of Goswami Tulsi Das and a novel, Naye Mode Par, which has been the subject of intense discussion in Hindi literary circles.
