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Yashpal

(1903 – 1976) – Himachal Pradesh

Yashpal (Aged 73) was born on December 3, 1903, in the Hamirpur district of Himachal Pradesh, India. He received his early education in Ferozepur and later joined National College, Lahore, where Bhagat Singh and Sukhdev were his college mates. They used to discuss Indian freedom extensively. Yashpal joined Hindustan Socialist Republican Association/Army and remained active until his arrest.

On December 23, 1929, he bombed the Viceroy train, but the Viceroy survived. He was listed as an absconder in the Lahore conspiracy case and was arrested in 1932. Yashpal remained imprisoned until 1938. In jail, he turned to writing and after his release, settled in Lucknow. He brought out Viplav and Baghi magazines in Hindi and Urdu and also established Viplav publications, where he published nearly fifty books, including the three-part memoir of his revolutionary life, Simhavlokan.

Yashpal became a celebrated Hindi fiction writer and was awarded the Padma Shri in 1970 and the Sahitya Akademi award in 1976. He passed away on December 26, 1976.