Ramanbhai Neelkanth
Ramanbhai Mahipatram Nilkanth was a Gujarati novelist, essayist, literary critic from India. The Ramanlal Nilkanth Hasya Paritoshik is named after him.
Life
Ramanbhai Nilkanth was born on 13 March 1868 in Ahmedabad to Mahipatram Rupram Nilkanth and Rupkunwarba who were social reformers. He completed his primary and secondary education in Ahmedabad. He matriculated in 1883. He joined Gujarat College, Ahmedabad in 1884 and completed his B.A. from Elphinstone College, Bombay in 1887 and later obtained his LL.B.His first wife, Hansvadan, died at a young age and he married again to Vidyagauri Nilkanth, one of the first female graduates from state, in 1887. He worked as a clerk in the government office. He had later served as a Judge in Godhra.
He was awarded title of Rai Bahadur and later knighthood in 1927.
He served as the mayor of Ahmedabad. He was also the first secretary of the Ahmedabad Red Cross founded in 1923. He served as the president of Gujarati Sahitya Parishad in 1926.
He died on 6 March 1928 at Ahmedabad. His daughters, Vinodini Nilkanth and Sarojini Mehta, were also writers. British travel writer Pico Iyer is his great-grandson.