Hasu Yajnik

Hasmukhray Vrajlal Yajnik (12 February 1938 – 10 December 2020), better known as Hasu Yajnik, also spelled Hasu Yagnik was an Indian Gujarati language novelist, short story writer, critic, editor, folklorist and children's writer. Born and educated in Rajkot, he served as a professor of Gujarati in various government colleges in Gujarat. He had written twenty novels, three short story collections, two jail stories, four medieval story collections, criticism of four medieval works, and edited twelve folk works and six works of children's literature. Yagnik was born on 12 February 1938 in Rajkot (now in Gujarat) to Vrajlal Yajnik and Pushpaben (Prasannaben). He was their eighth child. His father was clerk in British Agency in Rajkot while his grandfather Govindalal was a survey officer in Palitana State. He was raised by his grandfather and was heavily influenced by him. He completed his primary and secondary school education from Rajkot. Frem 1950 to 1954, he studied in Dhrangadhra. He completed BA in 1960 and MA in Gujarati-Sanskrit in 1962 from Dharmendrasinhji Arts College in Rajkot. He received PhD for his thesis on Madhyakalin Gujarati Kamkatha in 1972.