Surjit Hans, an 82-year-old Indian professor who translated all works of William Shakespeare into Punjabi, passed away at 89 following a prolonged illness.
A history professor at Amritsar’s Guru Nanak Dev university, Hans chose to translate Shakespeare into Punjabi full-time only after his retirement in 1993. Hans’ relationship with Shakespeare goes back to his college days when he played the part of the wounded soldier in ‘Macbeth’ and acted in ‘Hamlet’.
Hans also translated Henry VIII, the last of the plays of the Bard (1564-1616). He was assigned the translation work by the Patiala-based Punjabi University.
Hans, who taught history at Amritsar’s Guru Nanak Dev University and chose to translate Shakespeare into Punjabi full-time only after his retirement in 1993, also finished the translation of Henry VIII, the last of the plays of the Bard (1564-1616).
He was assigned the translation work by the Patiala-based Punjabi University.
Hans’ relationship with Shakespeare went back to his college days when he played the part of the wounded soldier in ‘Macbeth’ and acted in ‘Hamlet’.
Among all the works of Shakespeare translated by him in Punjabi, Hans took the maximum time over “Two Noble Kinsmen” and “Henry VIII”.
In 2013, Hans was honoured with a bust of the 18th century Bard of Avon at Ealing Mayor’s parlour in appreciation of his works including translation of 38 plays of Shakespeare.
