Dev Virahsawmy is a politician, playwright, poet and advocate of the Mauritian Creole

Mauritian Creole

Mauritian Creole is a French-based creole language spoken in Mauritius. In addition to the French base of the language, there are also some words from English and from the many African and Asian languages that have been spoken on the island.- Sociolinguistic Situation :Mauritian Creole is the...

 language.

Early life

Virahsawmy spent his early childhood in Goodlands but after the death of his mother he went to live with his grandparents at Beau-Bassin. After having done his secondary education, he went to Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 at the Edinburgh University to study languages, literature and linguistics.

Political life

Between 1966 and 1987, he was a politician and one of the three leaders of the Mauritian Militant Movement

Mauritian Militant Movement

The Mouvement Militant Mauricien is a socialist political party in Mauritius. The party was formed by a group of students in the late 1960s. The MMM is currently led by Paul Bérenger....

.

Since leaving politics he has concentrated on play-writing. He is associated with the early protest theatre in Mauritius. Virahsawmy is married to Loga Virahsawmy, a feminist and chairperson of Gender and Media Southern Africa.