Today is the 75th birthday of noted Bangladeshi novelist and short story writer Akhteruzzaman Elias.Elias was born on February 12, 1943 at his maternal uncle’s home in Gotia village in Gaibandha District. His father, Badiuzzaman Muhammad Elias, was a member of the East Bengal Provincial Assembly and Parliamentary Secretary of the Muslim League. Though he wrote only two novels, critics place Elias in the pantheon of great Bengali novelists.He was a major Bengali fiction writer particularly noted for his subtle sense of humor, realistic use of dialogue and dialect, and for his Marxist commitment to the lower class in both towns and villages in Bangladesh. His last major novel, called Khoabnama (Dream Book), is set in rural Bangladesh during a long historical period spanning several centuries.Elias completed his Matriculation from Bogra Zilla School in 1958, Intermediate from Dhaka College in 1960, and BA (Hons) and MA from the University of Dhaka in 1964.He was honored with Bangla Academy Award in 1983. In 1999, he was honored with Ekushey Padak posthumously.He was died on January 4, 1997.Source: Wikipedia