Qazi Anwar Hussain is no more

Qazi Anwar Hossain, creator of popular spy thriller series Masud Rana and head of Seba Prokashony, has died.

He died this afternoon (January 19). Qazi Anwar Hossain has been in Life Support since January 10. He died this afternoon.

His daughter Masuma Maymur said on a Facebook post that Qazi Anwar Hossain was diagnosed with prostate cancer on October 31 and was hospitalized five times. He also had brain strokes and heart attacks.

Qazi Anwar Hossain was born on 19 July 1936 in Dhaka. His father was Qazi Motahar Hossain a renowned scientist, mathematician and writer and his mother was Sajeda Khatun.

In 1963, he started his first press business in Segunbagicha. The first book of Segunbagan Prokashony, Kuasha-1, was published in June 1964. Later the name of the publication was changed to Seba Prokashony.

Seba Prokashony unveiled new horizons for paperback book publishing in Bangladesh. This publication has handed over to the readers the translations of all the famous novels of world literature at low cost.

In 1966, Qazi Anwar Hossain published Masud Rana's first book 'Dhonsho Pahar' under the pseudonym Bidyut Mitra. The book gained unimaginable popularity. After that Masud Rana became an icon for the younger generation of readers. More than four hundred and fifty books have been published in this series for more than half a century.

Qazi Anwar Hossain also used to sing. He was also a listed artist of Bangladesh Betar. He later left that job. He received the Bacchus Award for Best Screenplay and Dialogue in 1984. He also got Cinema Magazine and Zahir Raihan Film Award.