Radheshyam Sharma

Radheshyam Sharma (5 January 1936 – 9 September 2021) was a Gujarati language poet, novelist, short story writer, critic and compiler from the state of Gujarat, India. He is known in Gujarati literature for his experimental novels Fero (1968) and Swapnatirtha (1979). His other significant works include Aansu Ane Chandaranu (1963), and Gujarati Navalkatha (with Raghuvir Chaudhari; 1974), a work of literary criticism on Gujarati novels. Sharma was awarded the Gujarati literary honours Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak, in 2004, and Dhanji Kanji Gandhi Suvarna Chandrak, in 1995. Radheshyam Sharma was born on 5 January 1936 to Sitaram and Chanchal Bahen, also known as Padmavati, in Vavol, a village in Gandhinagar district, Gujarat. His family came from Rupal village in north Gujarat. Sharma inherited his religious leanings from his father Sitaram, a priest. He completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in Gujarati and Psychology at Gujarat College in 1957, and studied towards a Master of Arts at the Gujarat University School of Languages but did not sit for examination due to writer's cramp. Like his father, a religious storyteller, he also delivered sermons from 1965 to 1983.