Professor Abdullah Abu Sayeed turns 87

Professor Abdullah Abu Sayeed, the educationist, writer and founder of Bishwo Shahitto Kendro widely credited with pioneering Bangladesh's reading movement, turned 87 on Saturday (July 24).

Born on July 25, 1939, at Park Circus in Kolkata, Sayeed traces his ancestral roots to Kamargati village under Kachua upazila in Bagerhat district. His father, Azimuddin Ahmed, was a respected teacher whose influence shaped Sayeed's own lifelong devotion to education; his mother was Karimunnesa.

Sayeed began his teaching career in 1961. His decades in the classroom, including a long tenure at Dhaka College, established him as one of the country's most popular educators, while his work as an organiser proved equally influential. In 1978, he founded Bishwo Shahitto Kendro, whose book-reading programme has since cultivated reading habits among tens of thousands of students nationwide and grown into one of Bangladesh's most significant cultural and educational institutions.

A leading figure in the literary movement of the 1960s, Sayeed also became a familiar face to television audiences from the earliest days of Bangladesh Television, hosting programmes on literature, culture and education that won him broad public recognition. He has remained equally active as a writer, publishing roughly 27 books spanning poetry, essays, short stories, drama, translation and biography, cementing his standing in Bengali literary and intellectual life.

Beyond literature and education, Sayeed has lent his voice to social causes including dengue prevention and environmental conservation. His contributions across these fields have been recognised with the Ekushey Padak, the Ramon Magsaysay Award, the National Television Award, the Bangladesh Book Club Award and numerous other honours at home and abroad.

Cultural, educational and social organisations across the country marked the occasion on Saturday with programmes honouring the veteran educationist.