Humayun Azad (1947–2004) is regarded as one of the most influential writers in modern Bengali literature in Bangladesh. An esteemed poet, academic scholar, critic, and linguist with more than seventy titles to his credit, Azad produced an oeuvre that is both rich and multidimensional. He was awarded the Bangla Academy Award in 1986 for his contributions to Bengali linguistics. In 2012, the government of Bangladesh honored him posthumously with the Ekushey Padak Award. Throughout his career, he was praised for his outspoken critique of fundamentalism and his unflinching support of the Bengali language and the culture it represents. Born in Rarikhal, Dhaka, in 1947, Azad had his early education at Sir J. C. Bose Institution, Rarikhal, and higher studies at Dhaka College and the University of Dhaka. He earned his BA and MA in Bengali, standing first in the class in 1967 and 1968, and obtained his PhD in 1976 from the University of Edinburgh. He taught at the University of Chittagong and Jahangirnagar University and was a professor of Bengali at the University of Dhaka. On August 12, 2004, Azad died in Munich, Germany. He was laid to rest in Rarikhal, his rural homeland.