Jagan Nath Azad
| Jagan Nath Azad जगन नाथ आज़ाद جگن ناتھ آزاد |
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| Born |
Jagan Nath Azad 5 December 1918 Isa Khel in Mianwali District, Punjab, British India |
| Died | 24 July 2004 (aged 85) |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Occupation | poet, writer, academician |
Jagan Nath Azad (Urdu: جگن ناتھ آزاد, Hindi: जगन नाथ आज़ाद) (5 December 1918 – 24 July 2004) was a renowned Urdu poet, writer and academician. A literary giant, Azad penned over 70 books, including poetry collections, epic poems, biographies and travelogues.
He was an acclaimed authority on the life, philosophy and works of Muhammad Iqbal. Azad's books (in Urdu and English) on Allama Iqbal are recognised as the "definitive reference" in the Urdu-speaking world. He served as President of the Iqbal Memorial Trust for a term of five years (1981–85).
Azad was elected vice-president of Anjuman Taraqqi-i-Urdu (Hind) (a national body for the promotion of Urdu under the Ministry of Human Resource Development) in 1989 and President in 1993, remaining in this office till his demise.
He was at his writing desk till fifteen days before he died – of carcinoma and a brief illness – at the Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute & Research Centre in New Delhi, India on 24 July 2004. He was 84 and was survived by his wife and five children.
Azad was born on 5 December 1918 in the small town of Isa Khel in Mianwali District, Punjab. The District became part of Pakistan after the partition of India in 1947. He inherited his love of Urdu literature from his father, Tilok Chand Mehroom – was the close companion of syed Hashim Raza, Syed Moeenuddin Jafri_UL_Chishti, Shabeer Hassan Khan (known as Josh Malleehabadi) himself a poet of renown – who introduced him to Urdu poetry via Diwan-e-Ghalib and took him to mushairas in which he participated. The first such event resulted in the young Azad meeting Hafeez Jalandhari for the first time and being presented with a copy of Hindustan Hamara, which he read, cherished and re-read over the years.
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