Pratap Narayan Mishra was born on 24th September, 1856 in the village Baijegaon, District Unnao. His father, Pt. Sankata Prasad Mishra, was an astrologer.
After his birth, his family moved to Kanpur where he spent his childhood. His father wanted him to follow his footsteps and become an astrologer but young Pratap had other plans. Though he studied in an English medium school for sometime, but could not retain his interest in the monotonous studies. However, he studied on his own and mastered Bengali, Sanskrit, English, Urdu and Persian languages. He contributed to the enrichment of the different genre of Hindi literature. His famous works were ‘Lokokti Shatak’, ‘Prarthana Shatak’, ‘Shriprem Puran', Kali Kautuk’, ‘Hathi Hammir’, ‘Bharat Durdasha', ‘Braidala Swagat’, ‘Trupantam’and ‘Kanpur Mahamatya
He was the first stylist essayist of Hindi who penned down more than 250 articles on contemporary topics. He translated many Bengali works in Hindi including the works of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyaya and Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar. Besides being a writer, Pratap Narayan Mishra also laid down the foundation of ‘Natak Sabha' to promote Hindi theatre.
Mishra was one of the pioneers of Hindi literature. He was the founder publisher and editor of the famous Hindi monthly journal 'Brahmin' which started on 15th March, 1883. It was the mouthpiece for the cause of national unity, social awareness and against the atrocities of the British rule. Mishra was also a co-editor of a daily newspaper ‘Hindustan’ which was brought out in association with Madan Mohan Malaviya.
Pratap Narayan Mishra made notable contribution to the freedom struggle with his writings. He represented Kanpur along with others at the third and the fourth session of Indian National Congress held at Madras and Allahabad respectively.
During his short life span, Mishra has written forty books which include his original writings and translation work. Some of his work could not be published due to his illness and financial crunch.
Pratap Narayan Mishra left for heavenly abode on 6th July, 1894 at a young age of 38 in Kanpur.
Department of Posts is happy to release a Commemorative Postage Stamp on Pratap Narayan Mishra.
Source : Information Folder issued by Indian Posts & Telegraph Department, Government of India