Nathuram Premi (English: Nathuram Premi; born- 26 November, 1881, Madhya Pradesh; died- 30 January, 1960, Maharashtra) was a famous writer, poet, linguist and editor. He used to write his works under the pseudonym ‘Premi’. Nathuram ji acquired good knowledge of Sanskrit, Bengali, Marathi and Gujarati languages. Along with the publication of original texts, he had done a commendable job of filling the stock of Hindi by publishing translations of the works of great literary figures in Indian languages, especially Bengali.
birth and education
Nathuram Premi was born on 26 November 1881 at a place called ‘Deori’ in Sagar district of Madhya Pradesh. His father’s name was Tundelal Modi, who used to do business. During his school days, Nathuram ji was the class monitor. Once upon a time, there was so much loss in his father’s business that the moneylender confiscated even the pot of pulses that was on the stove. Nathuram Premi, who grew up in this poverty, started his professional life by taking training as a village teacher. At that time he was getting a monthly salary of seven rupees. Nathuram ji was married to ‘Rama Devi’, who was a resident of nearby village Sarkheda, District Sagar.
fond of poetry
In later days, Nathuram Premi got the opportunity to come in contact with Amir Ali Mir. This developed a passion for poetry in him. He started writing poems under the pseudonym of ‘Premi’, which were published in newspapers like ‘Rasik Mitra’, ‘Kavya Sudhakar’ etc. But his poetic form was short-lived. He moved to Mumbai to work as a clerk in ‘Mumbai Provincial Digambar Jain Sabha’. Here Premi ji got ample opportunities for development. He acquired knowledge of Sanskrit, Bengali, Marathi and Gujarati languages. He was also the editor of the paper named ‘Jain Mitra’. Then, seeing his self-respect being hurt, he separated from the organization.
publishing work
At that time, a Jain organization named ‘Jain Granth Ratnakar Office’ used to publish literature in Mumbai. A monthly magazine named ‘Jain Hitaishi’ was also published from here. Nathuram Premi started working in this organization. Meanwhile, he got the opportunity to read a wide variety of books. One of those books was “Swadheenata”. This was the translation of John Stuart Mill’s famous book ‘Liberty’ by Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi. Nathuram ji wanted to distribute copies of this book in order to reduce the stereotypes in Jain society. Upon learning that the book was not available, he decided to publish it himself after taking permission from Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi. Thus, ‘Hindi Granth Ratnakar Mala’ started with the publication of ‘Swadhinata’ on September 24, 1921. Along with the publication of original texts, this publishing house did a commendable job of filling the stock of Hindi by publishing translations of the works of great writers of Indian languages, especially Bengali.
