Prasannamoyee Devi
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Prasannamoyee Devi | |
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| Native name | প্রসন্নময়ী দেবী |
| Born | 29 September 1856 Haripur, Pabna District, Mughal Empire |
| Died | 25 October 1939 (aged 83) |
| Occupation | Poet, travel writer and memoirist |
| Literary movement | Bengal Renaissance |
| Notable works | Aryavarta: Janaika Bangamahilar Bhraman Brittanta (1888) |
| Children | Priyamvada Devi |
| Relatives | Pramatha Chaudhuri (brother) Kumudnath Chaudhuri (brother) |
Prasannamoyee Devi (Bengali: প্রসন্নময়ী দেবী, née Chaudhuri, 29 September 1856 – 25 October 1939) was a Bengali poet, travel writer and memoirist of the Bengali Renaissance period. Her work Aryavarta: Janaika Bangamahilar Bhraman Brittanta (1888) was the first published travel account of India by a Bengali woman.
Devi was born on 29 September 1856 into a wealthy Hindu zamindari family in the village of Haripur, Pabna District, Mughal Empire, (the area became part of the British Raj in 1858 and is today part of Bangladesh).[1][2] Devi wrote in her autobiography that her father Durgadas Chowdhury lived in Murshidabad in West Bengal with family during the 1850s.[3][4]
Devi was primarily educated in the family home,[5] but also used to dress as a boy to go to Kachhari Bari for studies outside of the home.[6][page needed] She was tutored in Bengali, English, and Sanskrit.[7]
Devi was married to zamindari Krishna Kumar Bagchi of Gunaigachha in the Pabna District when she was aged ten.[8][9] She gave birth to their daughter Priyamvada Devi in 1871, who would become a writer, teacher and philanthropist.[10][11][12]
After her daughter's birth Devi refused to live with her husband in his rural home, and lived instead in her father and brothers home, which was frequented the Tagore family.[5]