Adib Masud Hassan Rizavi (1893–1975) was an Indian author[1] and a scholar of Urdu literature.[2][3] Born in 1893 in Bahraich in the North-Western Provinces of British India, he did his early college studies at the Canning College, Lucknow after which he secured a master's degree in Persian literature from Lucknow University.[2] He started his career as a junior lecturer at the Lucknow University in 1927[2] and rose to become the head of the department of Urdu and Persian in 1930 from where he retired in 1954.[4]
Rizavi published his first book, Imtihan-i-Wafa in 1918 which was a translation of an Alfred Lord Tennyson work.[2]Hamari Shayari, Lucknow ka Shahi Stage,[5]Lucknow ka Awami Stage,[6]Urdu Zaban aur Uska Rasm-i-kat, Mutafarriqat-e-Ghalib,[7]Anisyat, Wajid Ali Shah, Madras-e-Rekhta and Azeezi Lucknowi[8] are some of his other notable publications, the last four books getting released after his death in 1975.[2] His life and works have been documented in a book, Saiyyid Masud Hasan Rizavi adīb: hiyāt aur adabi khidmāt, written by Vasim Ārā and published in 1990.[9] Rizavi, whose son, Naiyer Masud, is also a known short story writer,[3] was honoured by the Government of India in 1970 with Padma Shri, the fourth highest Indian civilian award.[10]
