Professor Abdullah Abu Sayeed

Educator, Founder & Chairman, Bishwa Sahitya Kendra

Abdullah Abu Sayeed is a Bangladeshi educator, writer, television presenter, and activist. He is the founder and chairman of Bishwa Sahitya Kendra, a non-profit organization that promotes the study of literature, reading habits, and progressive ideas.

Sayeed was born on 25 July 1939, to a Bengali Muslim family in Park Circus, Calcutta. His father was Azimuddin Ahmed, a teacher of English and Bengali literature, and a playwright. Their ancestral home was in Kamargati, Bagerhat District. Sayeed passed the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) exam from RM Academy, Pabna in 1955 and the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) exam from Prafulla Chandra College, Bagerhat in 1957. He later earned BA and MA degrees in Bengali from the University of Dhaka in 1960 and 1961 respectively.

Sayeed started his career as a guest teacher at Government Haraganga College, Munshiganj. Then he taught at Sylhet Women's college for some time. In 1962 he joined Rajshahi College as a full-time teacher. After 5 months he joined Government Science College, Dhaka. He was also an acting principal for 2 years when he was only 23 years old. He also taught Bangla as a part-time lecturer at BUET.

Sayeed gave an interview for the post of assistant professor. Being impressed by Sayeed's brilliance and personality Dhaka College's renowned principal Jalaluddin Ahmed invited Sayeed to Dhaka College. Sayeed later became the department head of the Bengali language at Dhaka College. He was very popular among his students. It is said that even students from other colleges came to attend his classes. He wrote a book on his teaching career named Nishfola Mather Krishok (Farmer of an infertile land). He edited the literary magazine Kanthaswar (The Voice) in the 1960s which promoted a new trend in Bangladeshi literature.

In the mid-1970s, he started presenting Saptabarna (Seven Colors), a TV show on Bangladesh Television. In the 1970s and 1980s, he also presented TV show Eid Anandamela. He received the National Television Award in 1977.