William Radice, ‘friend’ of Bengali literature, dies at 73

William Radice, the poet, researcher and translator who made innumerable stories and poems of Rabindranath Tagore and ‘Meghnad Badh Kabya,’ the epic by Michael Madhusudan Dutt, available to English readers, has passed away.

Radice died on Monday in England at the age of 73, confirmed poet Kaiser Huq, an expatriate in the United Kingdom.

“Radice lived in Newcastle. He lived the last decade of his life in north England. From there, he departed for eternity,” Kaiser said.

The poet lost his ability to write a decade ago after he was severely injured in a road accident, he said.

Once a close friend, Kaiser could not meet Radice in person for a long time, but two spoke over the phone and kept in touch.

“As far as I remember, I met Radice in the mid-eighties. I translated some poems of Shamsur Rahman and Radice reviewed them. The reviews were published as well.”

“I was remembering him just a few days ago. What a coincidence that now I’m talking about his death,” Kaiser said.

William Radice was born in 1951. His mother Betty Radice was an editor and a translator of classical Latin literature. His ancestors came to the UK from Italy.

At the beginning of the seventies, Radice began to study English literature at Oxford University. He taught at a school in India before joining Oxford and travelling to Kolkata, Delhi, Varanasi and Chennai.

Even before he travelled to India, Radice was fascinated by Satyajit Ray’s films. He said in an interview that he was interested in Indian culture from his younger days.

Radice began to study the Bengali language at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London. He learned Bengali from Prof Tarapada Mukhopaddhaya and became his disciple. Some people believed that Radice was moved by the war of independence in Bangladesh, which intensified his love for the Bengali language.

Later, Radice became a professor at SOAS and taught Bengali. His talent was ‘never to go into oblivion,’ Kaiser Huq said.

“It was such a bad accident. A truck hit him. Initially, Radice’s brain did not respond at all. Later, he could read while lying on the bed.”

At one point, Radice started to forget Bengali, the language he loved so much.

“His memory wasn’t working properly. He became forgetful. Radice called me and shared his frustration. Unfortunately, we didn’t speak for a long time.”

Sukanata Chowdhury, professor emeritus at Jadavpur University, expressed his sadness at the death of Radice. “I am shocked. The poems translated by Radice played a significant role in refreshing the wave of interest on Rabindranath in the Western world at the tail end of the twentieth century,” he said.

Rabindra Sangeet researcher Debasish Roy Chowdhury from Kolkata was also close to Radice.

In 2012, Radice played the role of the king in the play ‘Raja’ in English, Debasish said.

Radice translated Rabindranath Tagore’s ‘Jibito O Mrito,’ ‘Postmaster,’ and ‘Kabuliwala.’ He also translated ‘Particles,’ ‘Jottings’ and ‘Sparks,’ based on Rabindranath’s’ Kanika, Likhan,’ and ‘Sphulinga.’

The poet and translator did some research on the main script of the translation of Tagore’s ‘Gitanjali’. A collection of Tagore’s 30 short stories translated by him was published by Penguin Publications.

He adapted the text ‘Debotar Grash’ by Rabindranath Tagore as an opera libretto, which was set to music by Param Vir as Snatched by the Gods.

Upendrakishore Roychowdhury’s ‘Tuntunir Boi,’ one of the masterpieces of Bengali children’s literature, was also chosen by Radice for translation. His translation was published as ‘The Stupid Tiger and Other Tales’.

His research also included ‘Meghnad Badh Kabya,’ which he translated into the ‘The Poem of Killing Meghnad.’

In addition, Radice leaves behind a wide range of poems, articles and editorial works in English.