List of Jnanpith (Gyanpith) Award Winners till 2019 

The Literary award Jnanpith or Gyanpith is one of the highest literary honour in India. Some call it Gyanpeeth award also.  The award is meant to recognize, nurture and promote the excellence in writing in all recognized Indian languages. It is awarded only to Indian nationals.

In recent past, there have been a few questions asked on this topic. Since the topic of Jnanpith Awards is a very simple topic, this quick compilation will help the aspirants in answering random questions from here.

The jnanpith award

>> The Jnanpith award is awarded every year for best creative writing to an Indian citizen in any of the 22 languages that are included in Schedule VIII of the Indian Constitution. English has also been included for consideration of the award from 49th award onwards.

This Award is sponsored by the Bharatiya Jnanpith Trust, which is a literary and cultural organisation that was set up in 1944, by the late Sahu Shanti Prasad Jain and his wife Rama Jain. The Jain family are the publishers of The Times of India newspaper. This award is considered to be the most prestigious literary award of the country.

The Jnanpith Award : It carries a cash price of Rs 11 lakhs, a citation plank and a bronze replica of goddess Saraswati ‘Vagdevi’.

Prior to 1982, the Jnanpith Award were given for a single work of Author, but after that, the Jnanpith Award is being given for the lifetime contribution of the writer to the Indian literature. The Jnanpeeth Award has become a symbol of the comprehensive vision of Indian literature along with national integrity.

 

Side read: Read about the basic structure of Indian constitution here

Important firsts in Jnanpith Awards:

  • First Jnanpith: The first award for Jnanpith was given in 1965 to G. Sankara Kurup for Malayali Literature.
  • First Lady to win Gyanpith Award: The first women to receive this prestigious award was the Bengali writer Ashapoorna Devi who was awarded in 1976.
  • First Jnanpith in English: Amitav Ghosh became the first English writer to win Jnanpith Award in 2018.

 

About recent Jnanpith Award winners:

Gyanpith English Amitav Ghosh

Amitav Ghosh gets first Jnanpith Award for English language

The most recent Jnanpith Award has been the 54th Jnanpith Award to Amitav Ghosh  for “outstanding contribution towards literature”. Ghosh’s novels include Shadow Lines, The Glass Palace, The Hungry Tide, and the Ibis trilogy — Sea of Poppies, River of Smoke, and Flood of Fire. The Indian government awarded Ghosh the Padma Shri in 2007.  Ghosh is also a recepient of Sahitya Akademi Award, Ananda Puraskar and Prix Medicis Award from France. He was elected as Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2009. He was also shortlisted for Man Booker prize 2008.

 

 

The 53rd Jnanpith Award was given to eminent Hindi Litterateur Krishna Sobti, who is Krishna Sobti 2017 Gyanpithknown for creating bold and daring characters in her stories. She experiments with new writing styles and her language is highly influenced by the intermingling of Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi cultures. Her celebrated works include Mitro Marjani, Daar Se Bichhudi, Zindaginama, Badalom ke Ghere, Ai Ladki, Dil-o-Danish and Gujarat Pakistan Se Gujarat Hindustan. She has been the recipient of many coveted awards, including Hindi Akademi Awards, Shiroman Awards, Maithli Sharan Gupt Samman, Sahitya Akademi Fellowship and Padma Bhushan(she declined).

 

The 52nd Jnanpith Award was given to veteran modern Bengali poet Shankha Ghosh for year 2016. He is a leading authority on Rabindranath Tagore. Ghosh was conferred the Padma Bhushan in 2011 and the Sahitya Academi award in 1999. Shankha Ghosh is the seventh Bengali author to win India’s highest literary award.

 

Here is the List of all Jnanpith Award Winners – India’s Highest Literary Award

YEAR     NAME OF WINNER  CONTRIBUTION & WORK  LANGUAGE
2018 Amitav Ghosh Path-breaking english novelist exploring Indian protagonist ranging across wide international field in both his fictional and discursive writings. Celebrated works include – The Circle of Reason, The Shadow Lines, The Calcutta Chromosome, The Glass Palace, The Hungry Tide and the Ibisi Triology.  English
2017 Krishna Sobti Her writings have ranged from the Partition, and relationships between man and woman, to the changing dynamics of the Indian society and the gradual deterioration of human values. Celebrated works include Daar Se Bichhudi, Mitro Marjani, Zindaginama, Dil-o-Danish, Badalom ke Ghere, Ai Ladki and Gujarat Pakistan Se Gujarat Hindustan. Hindi
2016 Shankha Ghosh Adim Lata – Gulmomay, Murkho Baro, Samajik Noy, Baborer Prarthana  Bengali
2015 Raghuveer Chaudhary  Contribution to Gujarati poetry, novels including trilogy (Uparvaas), Rudra Mahalaya, Venu Vatsala  Gujarati
2014 Bhalchandra Nemade (50th Jnanpith award)  Kosala(Cocoon)  Marathi
2013 Kedarnath Singh  Akaal main Saras  Hindi
2012 Ravuri Bharadhwaja  Paakudurallu  Telugu
2011  Pratibha Ray  Yajnaseri  Oriya
    2010 Chandrashekhara Kambara  For his contributions to Kannada literature  Kannada
2009 Amar Kant  Hindi
2009 Shrilal Shukla  Hindi
2008 Akhlaq Mohammed Khan ‘Shahryar’  For his contribution to Urdu Poetry. He is only the 4th urdu writer to be awarded the Jnanpith Award  Urdu
2007 Dr. O. N. V. Kurup for his contributions to Malayalam literature  Malayalam
2006 Satya Vrat Shastri  Sanskrit
2006 Ravindra Kelekar  Konkani
2005 Kunwar Narayan  Hindi
2004 Rahman Rahi Subhuk Soda, Kalami Rahi and Siyah Rode Jaren Manz  Kashmiri
2003 Vinda Karandikar Ashtadarshana (poetry)  Marathi
2002 D. Jayakanthan  Tamil
2001 Rajendra Keshavlal Shah  Gujarati
2000 Indira Goswami  Assamese
1999 Gurdial Singh  Punjabi
1999 Nirmal Verma  Hindi
1998 Girish Karnad for his contributions to Kannada literature and for contributions to kannada theater (yayati)  Kannada
1997 Ali Sardar Jafri Urdu
1996 Mahasweta Devi Hajar Churashir Ma Bengali
1995 Dr. M. T. Vasudevan Nair Randamoozham (Second Chance)  Malayalam
1994 U. R. Ananthamurthy for his contributions to Kannada literature  Kannada
1993 Sitakant Mahapatra for contribution to the enrichment of Indian literature Oriya
1992 Naresh Mehta Hindi
1991 Subhas Mukhopadhyay Padati Bengali
1990 V. K. Gokak (Vinayaka Krishna Gokak) Bharatha Sindhu Rashmi Kannada
1989 Qurratulain Hyder Akhire Shab Ke Humsafar Urdu
1988 Dr. C. Narayana Reddy Vishwambhara Telugu
1987 Vishnu Vaman Shirwadkar(Kusumagraj) Natsamrat Marathi
1986 Sachidananda Rout Roy Oriya
1985 Pannalal Patel Maanavi Ni Bhavaai (માનવીની ભવાઇ) Gujarati
1984 Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai Kayar {Coir} Malayalam
1983 Maasti Venkatesh Ayengar Chikkaveera Rajendra (Life and struggle of Kodava King Chikkaveera Rajendra) Kannada
1982 Mahadevi Varma Yama Hindi
1981 Amrita Pritam Kagaj te Canvas Punjabi
1980 S. K. Pottekkatt Oru Desathinte Katha (Story of a land) Malayalam
1979 Birendra Kumar Bhattacharya Mrityunjay (Immortal) Assamese
1978 Sachchidananda Hirananda Vatsyayan ‘Ajneya’ Kitni Navon Men Kitni Bar Hindi
1977 K. Shivaram Karanth Mookajjiya Kanasugalu (Mookajjis dreams) Kannada
1976 Ashapurna Devi Pratham Pratisruti Bengali
1975 P. V. Akilan Chitttrappavai Tamil
1974 Vishnu Sakharam Khandekar Yayati Marathi
1973 Dattatreya Ramachandra Bendre Nakutanti (Naku Thanthi) Kannada
1973 Gopinath Mohanty Paraja Oriya
1972 Ramdhari Singh ‘Dinkar’ Urvashi Hindi
1971 Bishnu Dey Smriti Satta Bhavishyat Bengali
1970 Viswanatha Satyanarayana Ramayana Kalpavrikshamu Telugu
1969 Firaq Gorakhpuri Gul-e-Naghma Urdu
1968 Sumitranandan Pant Chidambara Hindi
1967 Umashankar Joshi Nishitha Gujarati
1967 Kuppali Venkatappagowda Puttappa(Kuvempu) Sri Ramayana Darshanam Kannada
1966 Tarashankar Bandopadhyaya Ganadevta Bengali
1965 G. Sankara Kurup Odakkuzhal (Flute) Malayalam

 

This list is updated and maintained with the latest information regrading the Gyanpeeth Awards.

We hope this short compilation of List of Jnanpith (Gyanpith) Award Winners – General Awareness Study Material & Notes will be useful for the candidates of various examinations. If you want us to make any additions to the article, you can mention them in the comments below.

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