Bal Gangadhar Samant was an India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

n writer. He wrote around 80 books in Marathi on a wide range of topics from fiction, biography, Marathi dramas and history. His books include a biography of Richard Francis Burton

Richard Francis Burton

Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton KCMG FRGS was a British geographer, explorer, translator, writer, soldier, orientalist, cartographer, ethnologist, spy, linguist, poet, fencer and diplomat. He was known for his travels and explorations within Asia, Africa and the Americas as well as his...

, (titled Shapith Yaksha), Hitler, Deenanath Mangeshkar

Deenanath Mangeshkar

Dinanath Mangeshkar was a well-known Marathi theatre actor, a renowned Natya Sangeet musician and an exceptional Hindustani classical vocalist....

, Marathi natyasangeet, reincarnation, Bal Gandharva

Bal Gandharva

Narayan Shripad Rajhans , better known as Bal Gandharva was one of the greatest Marathi singers and stage actors. He was famous for his roles of female characters in Marathi plays, since women were not allowed to act on stage during his time....

, elephants (titled Gajaraja), death and many more.

Saprem Namaskar (सप्रेम नमस्कार) and Shapit Yaksha (शापित यक्ष) are two of his works.

He was awarded the Padma Shri

Padma Shri

Padma Shri is the fourth highest civilian award in the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan...

in 2004 for Literature and education.

Samant died on January 18, 2009 after prolonged illness.