GUWAHATI: Acclaimed  Assamese poet and Jnanpith awardee Nilmani Phookan, 89,  passed away on Thursday, January 19

Phookan was undergoing treatment at the Guwahati Medical College and Hospital due to old-age-related health issues. He died at the hospital around 11.55 am, family source said.

Phookan complained of difficulty in breathing and was admitted to the GMCH from a private hospital on Tuesday for advanced treatment. Phookan was undergoing non-invasive ventilation (NIV) at the hospital.

The poet was born in Dergaon in Golaghat district on September 10, 1933. He received his Master's degree in History from Guwahati University in 1961. He commenced writing poetry in the early 1950s. He won the Jnanpith Award, India's highest literary award for the year 2021.

Phookan received the Padma Shri in 1990, and the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship, the highest literary honour in India, in 2022. He was also awarded the 1981 Sahitya Akademi Award in Assamese for his poetry collection, 'Kobita'.

Phookan's poems were replete with French symbolism which he infused in his Assamese poetry. His acclaimed works include 'Surya Henu Name Ahe Ei Nodiyedi', 'Gulapi Jamur Lagna' and 'Kobita'.

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