Eminent litterateur and social activist Mahasweta Devi passed away on Thursday afternoon at a private hospital in Kolkata.

The 90-year-old Magsaysay awardee was admitted to the hospital in south Kolkata on June 22, 2016 with septicemia and urinary infection. She was also suffering from diabetes. She passed away at around 3 p.m. on Thursday.

Influenced by the Communist movement of the 1940s, she chose to work among the poorest of the poor in the tribal areas of West Bengal.

Awards :
1979: Sahitya Akademi Award (Bengali): – Aranyer Adhikar (novel)

1986: Padma Shri

1996: Jnanpith Award – the highest literary award from the Bharatiya Jnanpith

1997: Ramon Magsaysay Award – Journalism, Literature, and the Creative Communication Arts

1999: Honoris causa – Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU)

2006: Padma Vibhushan – the second highest civilian award from the Government of India

2010: Yashwantrao Chavan National Award

2011: Bangabibhushan – the highest civilian award from the Government of West Bengal

2012: Hall of Fame Lifetime Achievement Sahityabrahma – the first Lifetime Achievement award in Bengali Literature from 4thScreen-IFJW.

2014: 1st Mamoni Raisom Goswami National Award for Literature constituted by Assam Sahitya Sabha and sponsored by Numaligarh Refinery Limited, Assam