Bangabandhu’s ‘The Unfinished Memoirs’ Published in 14 Languages

Staff Correspondent: The autobiography of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, The Unfinished Memoirs, has been translated into several foreign languages, reaching readers in Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

Alongside the original Bengali edition and its English translation, the book has been translated into Urdu, Japanese, Chinese, Arabic, French, Hindi, Turkish, Nepali, Spanish, Assamese, Russian and Thai.

At an event marking the publication of the Braille edition of The Unfinished Memoirs on October 7, 2020, then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said the book had been translated into 14 languages and that permission had been sought to translate it into several more languages.

However, reports published around that time did not provide a complete list of all 14 languages.

The Unfinished Memoirs was first published in June 2012. The English edition was published alongside the Bengali version. The English translation was done by Dr Fakrul Alam, professor of English at the University of Dhaka.

Bangabandhu began writing his memoirs while in prison between 1967 and 1969. Four handwritten notebooks were recovered later and were used as the basis for editing and publishing the book.

The memoir contains accounts of Bangabandhu’s childhood, family background, education, political activities, the Bengal famine of 1943, communal riots in Calcutta and Bihar, the partition of India, the Language Movement, the formation and activities of the Awami Muslim League and Awami League, the United Front election, and political developments during the Pakistan period.

The early foreign-language editions included English, Chinese, Japanese and Urdu. The Japanese edition was translated by Kazuhiro Watanabe of the Bengali section of Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK) and published by Asahi Shoten.

The Urdu edition was published under the title Adhoori Yaadein (ادھوری یادیں). A 2013 edition published by Oxford University Press in Pakistan lists Yaowar Aman as the translator.

The Arabic edition was published in 2016 with an initiative from Palestine. On December 11 that year, Palestinian Foreign Minister Dr Riyad N. A. Malki handed a copy of the Arabic edition of The Unfinished Memoirs to then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at Ganabhaban in Dhaka.

Contemporary reports said Palestine had translated and published the book in Arabic and had taken steps to distribute it in other Arab countries.

The Arabic edition was translated by Palestinian translator Mohammad Dibaja (محمد ديباجة). Dr Syed Abdullah Al-Maruf, a professor of Arabic at the University of Dhaka, edited the translation.

According to published comments by Al-Maruf, the initial Arabic translation was based on the English edition. He later edited and revised the translation.

The Arabic edition is listed in an academic source from the University of Dhaka with the Arabic title Seeratun Zatiyyatun Lam Taktamil (سيرة ذاتية لم تكتمل) and Mohammad Dibaja as the translator.

Published reports have also mentioned Kuwait in connection with the publication or printing of the Arabic edition.

The French edition was published in 2017 by French publishing house Ginkgo Éditeur. It was translated by Professor France Bhattacharya, professor emeritus at the National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilisations (INALCO) in Paris. The French edition was also presented at the Salon du Livre in Paris.

The book was subsequently translated into Hindi, Spanish, Turkish, Nepali, Assamese and Russian.

On October 11, 2018, Sheikh Hasina formally unveiled the Spanish edition of The Unfinished Memoirs at Ganabhaban. The edition was published through the Embassy of Spain in Dhaka. Reports from the time said the book was then available in 10 languages, including Bengali, English, Hindi, Chinese, Japanese, French, Urdu, Arabic and Spanish.

The Nepali edition was published under the title Ti Adhura Sansmaranharu (ती अधुरा संस्मरणहरु). Former Nepali foreign secretary and former SAARC secretary general Arjun Bahadur Thapa and Professor Mahesh Poudel were associated with the translation.

At the October 7, 2020 event marking the unveiling of the Braille edition, Sheikh Hasina said The Unfinished Memoirs had been translated into 14 languages and that permission had been sought for translations into several other languages.

The complete list of those 14 languages was not provided in the reports published at the time. Different government and media reports mentioned English, Urdu, Japanese, Chinese, Arabic, French, Hindi, Turkish, Nepali, Spanish, Assamese and Russian.

A Thai edition was published in August 2022. The South Asia Studies Center of Chulalongkorn University and the Bangladesh Embassy in Bangkok jointly organised the unveiling ceremony.

The Thai translation team was led by Assistant Professor Dr Jirayut Sinthuphan, director of the South Asia Studies Center at Chulalongkorn University.

Information released at the time of the Thai edition stated that the book had previously been translated into English, Urdu, Japanese, Chinese, Arabic, French, Hindi, Turkish, Nepali, Spanish, Assamese and Russian.

With the addition of Thai, the number of foreign languages became 13. Including Bengali, the original language, the total became 14.

A Marathi edition was also published later. The Marathi edition, titled Apurna Atmakatha, was unveiled in Mumbai on October 12, 2021, at an initiative of the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission. The translation was done by writer and journalist Aparna Velnkar, while Anand Limaye was the publisher.

Various lists published at different times have also mentioned other languages, including Persian, Italian, Malay and Korean. The publication dates, publishers and translation details of all such editions, however, are not consistently available in the published sources.

The publication of the Braille edition added another format to the book’s editions. On October 7, 2020, Sheikh Hasina unveiled the six-volume Braille edition of The Unfinished Memoirs.

The book, first published in Bengali in 2012 and translated into English in the same year, has since been published in multiple languages. The Arabic edition was handed over to Sheikh Hasina by Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Malki in 2016.

By the time the Thai edition was unveiled in 2022, information released by the organisers listed 13 foreign languages—English, Urdu, Japanese, Chinese, Arabic, French, Hindi, Turkish, Nepali, Spanish, Assamese, Russian and Thai—in addition to Bengali. :::