Pratibha Agrawal

Pratibha Agrawal (born 10 August 1930) is an Indian theatre archivist, theatre actress, scriptwriter, director, writer and translator from Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. She is the founder of Natya Shodh Sansthan, a theatre archive and research institute in Kolkata. She received many awards including Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for her overall contributions, Sahitya Akademi Translation Prize, and awards from Uttar Pradesh Sangeet Natak Akademi, Uttar Pradesh Hindi Sansthan, Madhya Pradesh Sahitya Parishad, and the Bharatiya Anuvad Parishad.

Biography Pratibha Agrawal was born on 10 August 1930 in Bharatendu Bhawan, Banaras. While studying in the fifth grade, her mother became bedridden due to tuberculosis, and when she was only ten years old, her mother died. Pratibha, who started reading at a young age, had memorized one hundred and fifty poems at an early age. She secured first position in the matriculation examination. She also taught in Shikshayatan College in Calcutta during 1950-1970.

From the late 1940s to the early 1950s, she emerged as a leading heroine in Hindi theatre. The institute has compiled a historical archive of facts related to theatres, theatre artists and theatre institutions in all languages of India. In 2016 she received the 21st Aditya Vikram Birla Kalashikhar Award for Excellence in Indian Theatre by Sangit Kala Kendra. She received Ratna Sadasya Award of the Uttar Pradesh Sangeet Natak Akademi in 1975, award of the Uttar Pradesh Hindi Sansthan in 1989, Madhya Pradesh Sahitya Parishad Award in 1993, and the Bharatiya Anuvad Parishad Award in 1997.