Damayanti Beshra

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Damayanti Beshra is a Santali author and Adivasi researcher from Odisha who writes in the Santali language. She is known for her significant contributions to Santali literature. In 2020, she received the Padma Shri, India’s civilian award, for her work in Santali literature. She had earlier won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2009. Beshra started the first women’s magazine in Santali, Karam Dar, and in 1994 became the first Santali woman to publish a poetry collection, Jiwi Jharna. Born in 1962 in Bobeijoda village, Mayurbhanj district, Odisha, she is the daughter of Pungi Majhi and Rajmal Majhi. She studied at Rama Devi Women’s College in Bhubaneswar and at Utkal University, earning a BA, MA, and a PhD in Odia. She married Gangadhar Hansda in 1988. Professionally, she has worked as a lecturer and, since 2024, has been associated with the Bharatiya Janata Party.