Nityananda Mahapatra (17 June 1912 – 17 April 2012) was an Indian Odia politician, poet and journalist.

Political career

He was imprisoned three times by the British Raj between 1930 and 1942 for nationalist activities. He came to literary prominence as editor of the Odia magazine Dagara, and as a short story writer after independence. In his political career Mohapatra served as a member of the Odisha Legislative Assembly from 1957 to 1971 and as state Minister of Supply and Cultural Affairs from 1967 to 1971.

Death

He died on 17 April 2012 at around 9:45am at Kharavelanagar, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, from complications of respiratory failure. He had been in a coma at the Aditya Care Hospital following a breathing problem. He was three months short of his 100th birthday.

Literary works

Mohapatra has translated the Ramavataram (also known as the Kamba Ramayanam), the Tamil version of the Ramayana, into Odia. Other works that he translated into Odia include Ramana Maharshee and Swarajya Sanghitaa.

Literary awards

Mahapatra received the Odisha Sahitya Academy Award in 1974 and the Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award in 1987 for his novel Gharadiha.