Eminent Odisha professor BJB Mohapatra no more

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Sept 29:

Renowned Odisha educationist and retired professor of English literature Prof Buxi Jagabandhu Bidyadhar Mohapatra is no more. He died at his Brahmeswarpatna home here at 7 pm this evening, family sources said.

He was 92 and was ailing for a while.

Prof Mohapatra, a descendant of  Buxi Jagabandhu Bidhyar, was the classmate and a close friend of the Governor of Assam and former Odisha chief minister JB Patnaik. He had retired 34 years ago as the professor and head of the English department of Ravenshaw College where he had studied as a student of English literature.

He is survived by four sons including senior Congress leader Lalatendu Bidyadhar Mohapatra (Lulu) and two daughters. His youngest son and well-known cricketer Lalitendu Mohapatra was by his side when he breathed his last. While his eldest son Gopinath Bidyadhar Mohapatra is with Coal India, Sambalpur and the second son JB Mohapatra, a senior Income Tax officer, is posted as joint secretary, Govt of India in Delhi.

Lulu Mohapatra, who is presently hospitalised in Pune for a major surgery, may not be able to attend the cremation scheduled to take place near his ancestral home in Rodang near Brahmagiri on Tuesday, family sources said.

The Assam Governor JB Patnaik, who along with his wife and former MP Jayanti Patnaik rushed to his house said he had lost one of his best friends ever. He said Prof Mohapatra was a close friend since school days and their intimacy had grown over the years.  ” I am deeply distressed over my friend’s death,” he said.

The Leader of Opposition in Odisha Assembly Narasingh Mishra, the state BJP president KV Singhdeo and the state Congress president Jayadev Jena visited Prof Mohapatra’s home to pay their last respect.