Chunilal Shah

Chunilal Vardhman Shah (1887–1966) was a Gujarati novelist and journalist from Gujarat, India. He was awarded the Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak in 1937. Shah was born in 1887 in Wadhwan, Saurastra, British India. After passing his matriculation exams in 1903, he worked as a school teacher before becoming a journalist in Sanj Vartaman. He subsequently worked for Rajasthan and Jainoday as sub-editor and editor, respectively. In 1909, he joined Prajabandhu and continued working there till it became defunct in 1953. Through his articles in Prajabandhu, he gave a new direction to Gujarati journalism by providing more serious and thought provoking editorials. Shah wrote book reviews under the pseudonym Sahityapriya in Prajabandhu. He was awarded the Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak in 1937. He was appointed a chairman of the journalism section of Gujarati Sahitya Parishad in 1941. Along with Gujarati he had command over Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Urdu, and English. He was deeply involved in Gandhi's political activities. He wrote for the Gujarati magazine Gujarati Panch, started in 1901 by Mangaldas Shah. He was the vice president of Gujarat Sahitya Sabha from 1956 to 1964.