Dutt, Michael Madhusudan, 1824-1873

Michael Madhusudan Dutt (b. January 25, 1824 –d. June 29, 1873) was a popular 19th-century Bengali poet and dramatist; he was a pioneer of Bengali drama. His famous work, Meghnad Bodh Kavya, is a tragic epic. Dutt also wrote poems about the sorrows and afflictions of love as spoken by women.

Dutt is widely considered to be one of the greatest poets in Bengali literature and the father of the Bengali sonnet. He pioneered what came to be called Amitrakshar chhanda (blank verse). Although his first love remained poetry, Dutt showed prodigious skill as a playwright. He was the first to write Bengali plays in the English style, segregating the play into acts and scenes.