Dhirubhai Thaker

Dhirubhai Premshankar Thaker (1918–2014) was an eminent Indian Gujarati writer, critic, essayist, playwright, biographer, translator, and educationist. He is particularly celebrated for conceiving and editing the 25-volume `Gujarati Vishwakosh`, an encyclopedia of the Gujarati language. Thaker held a BA and MA from Elphinstone College and a PhD from Gujarat College. He served as a professor at Gujarat College and Modasa College and was president of the Gujarati Sahitya Parishad from 1999 to 2001. Known by the pen name 'Savyasachi', he received numerous honors, including the Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak (1994), Sahitya Gaurav Puraskar (1998), Narmad Suvarna Chandrak (2012), and the Padma Bhushan (2014). He authored a biography of Manilal Dwivedi, titled `Manilal Nabhubhai: Jeevanrang`, and a biographical play based on Dwivedi's life. His work includes `Manilal Dvivedi - Makers of Indian Literature`, published by Sahitya Akademi.