Harivansh Rai Bachchan was born on 27 November 1907 in Patti, a small village in Pratapgarh district near Allahabad. Harivansh Rai did his MA in English Literature from Allahabad University in 1938 and was a lecturer in Allahabad University till 1952.
He went to England to study in 1952, where he researched English literature/poetry at the University of Cambridge. After his return from Cambridge in 1955, he was appointed as a Hindi specialist in the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India.
He was influenced by the life philosophy of 'Umar Khayyam' in the early phase of his poetic journey। His famous work, 'Madhushala' was inspired by Omar Khayyam's rubaais. Madhushala gained immense fame on the stage and Bachchan became a well known name for poetry lovers.
He was also a nominated for Rajya Sabha and received the title of Padma Bhushan in 1976. Prior to this, he had also received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1968 for 'Do Chattanen' (a collection of poems). Harivansh Rai Bachchan passed away on January 18, 2003 in Mumbai.
(Info credit - https://bharatdarshan.co.nz/)
