JHA, ‘SUMAN’, SHRI SURENDRA, Janata, (Bihar—Darbhanga—1977):  s. of late Shri Bhuwaneshwar Jha; b. at Ballipur Village, Samastipur District, October 1913; ‘Kavya-Tirtha’ Sanskrit College Calcutta and ‘Sahitya-charya’, D.S.S. College, Muzaffarpur; m. Smt. Ganga Devi, 1930; 1 s. and 2 d.; Journalist, teacher and writer; previously associated with the Congress and later on with the Jan Sangh; Vice-President, Bihar Pradesh Jan Sangh till March 1977; Chief Editor (i) ‘Mithila, Mihir”, Darbhanga 1935—52, (ii) ‘Swadesh’ (Monthly), 1942, (iii) Swadesh’ (Daily), 1956, and ‘Vaidehi’, 1962—66; Lecturer, CM. College, 1953—72, Reader, and Head of the Department of Maithili, L. N. Mithila Vishwavidyalaya, Darbhanga, 1972—74; Member, Darbhanga Municipality (for 10 years), Member, Bihar Rajya Sahityakar-Kalakar Kalyan Samiti; Member, Examination and Syllabus Committees of various Universities; Executive Member, Maithili Akademy, Bihar; Member, Advisory Committee, Sahitya Akademi, Delhi; Zila Sanchalak, Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh, Darbhanga-1962—70; General Secretary, Bhartiya Maithili Sahitya Parishad, 1956—60, and its President since 1973; Member and Secretary, Governing Bodies of High Schools, Colleges and Sanskrit Mahavidyalaya; also setting up libraries; Member, Bihar Legislative Assembly, 1972—75.

Favourite pastime and recreation:  Reading newspapers and magazins; spiritual and literary group discussions; music and fine arts.

Special interests:  Study of different languages and scripts, journalism and literary writing.

Accomplishments in letters, art and science:  Recipient of Sahitya Akademy Award, 1971.

Publications:  About 40 titles (poetry) in Maithili; prominent among these are : ‘Payaswini’, ‘Pratipada’, ‘Archana’, ‘Antarnad’, ‘SawanBhadan’, ‘Ankawali’, ‘Kavinvatika’, ‘Anugitanjali’, ‘Shringarhar’, ‘Damayanti’ (Epic), ‘Anyoktika’, ‘Prakritishatak’; Translations : ‘Purush Pariksha’, ‘Kumar Sambhava’ etc.; editor of about a dozen books in Maithili, Sanskrit and Hindi.

Sports and clubs:  Chess.

Permanent address:  Ballipur Village and P.O., Samastipur District, Bihar.