Byasakabi Fakir Mohan Senapati

Fakir Mohan Senapati was an Indian scholar, poet, philosopher, and social reformer who was also known as Utkala Byasa Kabi (Odisha's Vyasa). He was instrumental in giving the language of Odia, which is primarily spoken in the Indian state of Odisha, a unique character. Senapati is credited with founding contemporary Odia literature as well as Odia nationalism.

Senapati was referred to as the Thomas Hardy of Odisha by Mayadhar Mansingh. Although he translated works from Sanskrit, wrote poetry, and tried his hand at many different literary genres, he is now mainly recognised as the founder of contemporary Odia prose fiction. His four books, which were written between 1897 and 1915, are a reflection of Odisha's sociocultural landscape in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The three novels Chha maana Atha Guntha, Mamu, and Prayaschita investigate the realities of social life in all of its varied manifestations, while "Lachhama" is a historical romance that examines the lawlessness that arose in Odisha following Maratha invasions in the eighteenth century. The first Indian book to address the feudal Lord's exploitation of landless peasants is Chha Maana Atha Guntha. It was written much before the October revolution of Russia or much before the emerging of Marxist ideas in India. Fakir Mohan is also the writer of the first autobiography in Odia, "Atma Jeebana Charita" .