Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c10.s2.t35: Maitreyi Devi
Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c10.s2.t35
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Maitreyi Devi
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Maitreyi Devi (also spelled Maitraye Devi, 1914 - 1990) was an Indian poet and novelist, proficient in Sanskrit and Bengali literature. She used Bengali and English for writing. She was born in West Bengal, and studied in Calcutta University. Her father Surendranath Dasgupta is a master of Sanskrit literary history and Indian philosophy history, having written great works which were handed down to the later generation. Devi was acquainted with Rabindranath Tagore since childhood and became his disciple. At the age of 16, she published her first poems. Tagore appreciated her talents very much and wrote the preface for her poems. She wrote in more than 10 genres of writing, including poems, novels, essays, comments, etc. In 1976, she won the College of Literature award with her Bengali autobiographical novel *‘Na Hanyate’* (1974). The novel was reprinted 47 times and translated into 13 foreign languages within the following 40 years.
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Between April and May in 1978, Ji Xianlin, as the member of the delegation of Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, visited India and first met with Devi who was responsible for the West Bengal branch of Indian-China Association for Friendship. And Devi visited China in the same year, and wrote the book *‘Come on, China’* after returning to India. In 1980, she published *‘Travels in China and Japan’*. Both books reflected her deep understanding and sincere friendship to the Chinese. In 1982, she visited China again to invite Ji Xianlin to translate her book *‘Tagore by Fireside’* (1960), and Ji Xianlin made the promise with alacrity. In 1984, she made the third visit to China to discuss about the translation with Ji Xianlin. Ji Xianlin finished the Chinese translation of the book
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'Tagore by Fireside', front cover of the Chinese edition translated by Ji Xianlin
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in eight months and it was published by Lijiang Publishing Limited, China in 1985. The book was reprinted many times in China, and is included in the *‘Collected Works of Ji Xianlin’*, published by Jiangxi Education Publishing House and the *‘Complete Works of Ji Xianlin’* published by Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press. In the book, she vividly records the many excellent conversations conducted between Tagore and her, when Tagore was invited to Devi’s home in Darjeeling Mungpu four times during his twilight years (1938-1940), and represents a full image of a poet with great emotions. Thus, the book becomes the important reference point for knowing and studying Tagore's life and thoughts in his old age. The book is a masterpiece with global influence. Ji Xianlin thought that Eckermann who was the author of ‘*Gesprache Mit Goethe*’ cannot be compared with Devi. She also has many various works speaking of Tagore, such as ‘*The Great Wanderer*’ (1961) and ‘*Rabindranath: the Man behind His Poetry*’ (1973) etc.