Shripad Krushna Kolhatkar (1871-1934) was a Marathi

Marathi people

The Marathi people or Maharashtrians are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, that inhabit the Maharashtra region and state of western India. Their language Marathi is part of the southern group of Indo-Aryan languages...

 writer from Maharashtra

Maharashtra

Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...

, 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...

.

He was born on June 29, 1871 in Nagpur

Nagpur

Nāgpur is a city and winter capital of the state of Maharashtra, the largest city in central India and third largest city in Maharashtra after Mumbai and Pune...

. While in high school, he wrote a play named Sukha Malika (सुखमालिका). During his high school years and, later, college years, he widely read both English and Marathi literature, the latter particularly including Vishnushastri Krushnashastri Chiplunkar

Vishnushastri Krushnashastri Chiplunkar

Vishnushastri Chiplunkar was a Marathi writer, whose writings have had a decisive influence on modern Marathi prose style. He was the son of the writer and scholar Krushnashastri Chiplunkar.- Life :...

's Nibandhamala (निबंधमाला).

According to the social custom of his times, Kolhatkar's family arranged his marriage when he was 14. At age 17, he finished his high school education and joined Deccan College

Deccan College

Deccan College may refer to:* Deccan College Post-Graduate & Research Institute * Deccan College of Engineering and Technology * Deccan College of Medical Sciences, a medical college in Hyderabad, India....

 in Pune

Pune

Pune , is the eighth largest metropolis in India, the second largest in the state of Maharashtra after Mumbai, and the largest city in the Western Ghats. Once the centre of power of the Maratha Empire, it is situated 560 metres above sea level on the Deccan plateau at the confluence of the Mula ...

 to receive his bachelor's degree in1891. After obtaining a law degree in 1897, he started his law practice in Akola and then Jalgaon.

Kolhatkar was a pioneer in the field of humor as well as literary criticism in Marathi. He wrote a 110-page critique on the play Totayache Banda (तोतयाचे बंड) of Narasimha Chintaman Kelkar

Narasimha Chintaman Kelkar

Narasimha Chintaman Kelkar was a literary and political figure from Maharashtra, India.He was born on August 24, 1872 in the town of Modnimb near Miraj...

, which included his thoughts on the art of writing plays, and he wrote a 135-page critique on the novel Ragini (रागिणी) of Vaman Malhar Joshi

Vaman Malhar Joshi

Vaman Malhar Joshi was a Marathi writer from Maharashtra, India.Joshi was born on January 21, 1882 in the town of Tale in the Konkan region of Maharashtra...

, which included his thoughts on the art of writing novels.

Kolhatkar also wrote 12 plays; poems; short stories; and novels. Besides entertaining readers, bringing about social reform was an important objective of Kolhatkar's writings. Writers Ram Ganesh Gadkari

Ram Ganesh Gadkari

Ram Ganesh Gadkari was a Marathi poet, playwright, and humorist from Maharashtra, India.Ram Ganesh Gadkari was one of the writers in new age transformation in Marathi Literature. He wrote poetry under the pen name Govindagraj and humorous articles under the pen name Balakram...

, Vishnu Sakharam Khandekar

Vishnu Sakharam Khandekar

Vishnu Sakharam Khandekar was an eminent Marathi writer from Maharashtra, India.-Early life:...

, Gajanan Tryambak Madkholkar, Bhargavaram Viththal Varerkar

Bhargavaram Viththal Varerkar

Bhargavaram Viththal Varerkar was a Marathi writer from Maharashtra, India.Varterkar was born in 1883 in Chiplun in the Konkan region of Maharashtra. He attended high schools in Malvan, Dapoli, and Ratnagiri...

, and Prahlad Keshav Atre

Prahlad Keshav Atre

Prahlād Keshav Atre , popularly known as Āchārya Atre , was a multi-faceted Indian figure. He was a prominent Marathi writer, a poet, an educationist, a newspaper founder–editor of Maratha , a political leader, a movie producer–director–script writer...

 honored him as their guru.

He presided over Marathi Sahitya Sammelan

Marathi Sahitya Sammelan

Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan is a conference for literary discussions by Marathi writers. Though the conference has sometimes been held in a town outside the Indian state of Maharashtra, it is typically held annually in one of the towns in Maharashtra where Marathi is the mother tongue...

 held in Pune

Pune

Pune , is the eighth largest metropolis in India, the second largest in the state of Maharashtra after Mumbai, and the largest city in the Western Ghats. Once the centre of power of the Maratha Empire, it is situated 560 metres above sea level on the Deccan plateau at the confluence of the Mula ...

in 1913.

Literary work

• Sahitya Battishi : Sudamyache Pohe (साहित्यबत्तिशी : सुदाम्याचे पोहे) (Collection of humorous articles)
• Sham Sundar (शामसुंदर) (Novel)
• Shiva Pavitrya (शिवपावित्र्य) (Play)
• Vir Tanaya (वीरतनय) (Play)
• Mukanayak (मूकनायक) (Play)
• Vadhu Pariksha (वधूपरीक्षा) (Play)
• Sahacharini (सहचारिणी) (Play)
• Mati Vikar (मतिविकार) (Play)
• Gupta Manjush (गुप्तमंजूष) (Play)
• Parivartan (परिवर्तन) (Play)
• Janma Rahasya (जन्मरहस्य) (Play)
• Prema Shodhan (प्रेमशोधन) (Play)
• Shrama Saphalya (श्रमसाफल्य) (Play)
• Maya Vivaha (मायाविवाह) (Play)