La Nuit Bengali
Encyclopedia
'La Nuit Bengali', French (Bengal Nights, English) is a 1933 Romania
n novel
written by the author and philosopher Mircea Eliade
.
It is a fictionalized account of the love story between Eliade, who was visiting India
at the time, and the young Maitreyi Devi
(protegée of the great Bengal
i poet Rabindranath Tagore
, who became a famous writer herself). The novel was translated into Italian
in 1945, German
in 1948, Spanish
in 1952, Esperanto
in 2007. Its most famous translation is the one in French
, published as La Nuit Bengali in 1950.
For many years, Maitreyi Devi was not aware that the story had been published. After reading it, she wrote her own version of the relationship in 1974. Entitled Na Hanyate
, it was originally published in Bengali
. It was published in English as It Does Not Die.
In fulfillment of a promise Eliade made to Maitreyi that his novel would not be published in English during their lifetimes http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/143651.html, an English translation, of Mayitreyi, Bengal Nights did not appear until 1993. In 1994, the University of Chicago
Press published the two works in English as companion volumes.
is a 1988 film based upon the French translation of the same name. It stars Hugh Grant
(Allan), Soumitra Chatterjee
(Narendra Sen), Shabana Azmi
(Indira Sen), Supriya Pathak
(Gayatri), Anne Brochet
(Guertie).
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
written by the author and philosopher Mircea Eliade
Mircea Eliade
Mircea Eliade was a Romanian historian of religion, fiction writer, philosopher, and professor at the University of Chicago. He was a leading interpreter of religious experience, who established paradigms in religious studies that persist to this day...
.
It is a fictionalized account of the love story between Eliade, who was visiting India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
at the time, and the young Maitreyi Devi
Maitreyi Devi
Maitreyi Devi was a Bengali-born Indian poetess and novelist, the daughter of philosopher Surendranath Dasgupta and protegée of poet Rabindranath Tagore. She was the basis for the main character in Romanian-born writer Mircea Eliade's 1933 novel Bengal Nights...
(protegée of the great Bengal
Bengal
Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...
i poet Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore , sobriquet Gurudev, was a Bengali polymath who reshaped his region's literature and music. Author of Gitanjali and its "profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse", he became the first non-European Nobel laureate by earning the 1913 Prize in Literature...
, who became a famous writer herself). The novel was translated into Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
in 1945, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
in 1948, Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
in 1952, Esperanto
Esperanto
is the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Its name derives from Doktoro Esperanto , the pseudonym under which L. L. Zamenhof published the first book detailing Esperanto, the Unua Libro, in 1887...
in 2007. Its most famous translation is the one in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, published as La Nuit Bengali in 1950.
For many years, Maitreyi Devi was not aware that the story had been published. After reading it, she wrote her own version of the relationship in 1974. Entitled Na Hanyate
Na Hanyate
Na Hanyate, or It Does Not Die, is a novel written in 1974 by Maitreyi Devi, an Indian poet and novelist who was the protegée of the great Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore...
, it was originally published in Bengali
Bengali language
Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script...
. It was published in English as It Does Not Die.
In fulfillment of a promise Eliade made to Maitreyi that his novel would not be published in English during their lifetimes http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/143651.html, an English translation, of Mayitreyi, Bengal Nights did not appear until 1993. In 1994, the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
Press published the two works in English as companion volumes.
Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
La Nuit BengaliThe Bengali Night
The Bengali Night is a 1988 semi-autobiographical film based upon the Mircea Eliade 1933 Romanian novel, Bengal Nights, directed by Nicolas Klotz and starring Hugh Grant and the Indian actors Soumitra Chatterjee and Shabana Azmi.-Plot summary:...
is a 1988 film based upon the French translation of the same name. It stars Hugh Grant
Hugh Grant
Hugh John Mungo Grant is an English actor and film producer. He has received a Golden Globe Award, a BAFTA, and an Honorary César. His films have earned more than $2.4 billion from 25 theatrical releases worldwide. Grant achieved international stardom after appearing in Richard Curtis's...
(Allan), Soumitra Chatterjee
Soumitra Chatterjee
Soumitra Chatterjee or Soumitra Chattopadhyay is an iconic Bengali actor from India, known among other things for his frequent collaborations with the great Bengali film director Satyajit Ray and his constant comparison with the Bengali screen idol Uttam Kumar.-Background:Soumitra graduated from...
(Narendra Sen), Shabana Azmi
Shabana Azmi
Shabana Azmi is an Indian actress of film, television and theatre. An alumna of the Film and Television Institute of India of Pune, she made her film debut in 1974 and soon became one of the leading actresses of parallel cinema, an Indian New Wave movement known for its serious content and...
(Indira Sen), Supriya Pathak
Supriya Pathak
Supriya Pathak Kapur is an Indian actress hailing from a long line of performers. She is famous for her role in the Indian sitcoms Khichdi and Idhar Udhar.-Family:...
(Gayatri), Anne Brochet
Anne Brochet
Anne Brochet is a French comedienne and actress. She has appeared in such films as Cyrano de Bergerac, Le temps des porte-plumes, 30 ans, Une journée de merde! and Tous les matins du monde. She has also appeared in several episodes the television show Voici venir l'orage......
(Guertie).