Full Name: Munier Choudhury
Birth Date: November 27, 1925
Birth Place: Manikganj, Bengal Presidency, British India
Died: December 14, 1971
Death Place: Dhaka
Education: Harvard University
Occupation: Educationist, Political Dissident
Spouse (s): Lily Choudhury
Religion: Islam
Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius
Munier Choudhury was a famous political dissident, educationist, and literary critic who invented the advanced Bangla typewriter. He frequently visited East Germany to make this new typewriter. Munier was a victim of the Bengali intellectuals killing mission by the Pakistanis in 1971. Posthumously, he was awarded Independence Day Award in 1980. He is highly respected around the country.
Munier Choudhury Early Life:
Munier Choudhury was born on November 27, 1925, in Manikganj, Bengal Presidency, British India but his ancestors originated from Noakhali. His father Khan Bahadur Abdul Halim Chowdhury was a district magistrate and a graduate of Aligarh Muslim University and his mother Umme Kabir Afia Begum was a housewife who died in 2000. Due to his father’s official assignment, he lived in different corners of the country like Manikganj and Pirojpur.
He studied at Dhaka Collegiate School and completed matriculation in 1941. Munier completed the intermediate examination from Aligarh Muslim University. Then he enrolled at the University of Dhaka where he received bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in 1946 and 1947 respectively. Due to his involvement in leftist politics, Munier was expelled from Salimullah Hall.
He was jailed for two years for participation in the Bengali Language Movement in 1952. From jail, he took part in the Bengali Language master’s examination and stood first in the first class. He received his third master’s degree from Harvard University in Linguistics in 1958.
Munier Choudhury Career:
Munier Choudhury kicked off his career journey as a teacher at Brajalal College, Khulna in 1947. Three years later in 1950, he moved to Jagannath College. This year, he attended the University of Dhaka where he taught both English and Bengali until 1971 as well as became the dean of the faculty of arts.
Munier actively participated in the Bengali Language Movement in 1952 eventually jailed for several years. He protested the government’s ban on Rabindranath Tagore’s songs on radio and TV. He also took part in the non-cooperation movement in early 1971. Munier was awarded Sitara-e-Imtiaz by the Pakistan Government in 1966.
Personal Life:
Munier Choudhury married Lily Choudhury. The couple had three sons named Ahmed Munier, Ashfaque Munier (Mishuk), and Asif Munier. His son Ashfaque Munier was a cinematographer and journalist, who died in a road accident with Tareque Masud, on August 13, 2011, at Ghior, Manikganj District.
National Professor Kabir Chowdhury, actress Ferdousi Mazumder, Shamsher Choudhury, and language activist Nadera Begum are his sisters.
Munier Choudhury was abducted from his parent’s house near Dhaka University by the Pakistani Army on December 14, 1971, as part of killing Bengali intellectuals. Perhaps, he was killed on this day with other national intellectuals.