Mushtaq Ahmad Yusufi

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Mushtaq Ahmad Yusufi bigraphy, stories - Urdu humorist

Mushtaq Ahmad Yusufi : biography

September 4, 1923 –

Mushtaq Ahmad Yusufi D.Litt (HC), SI, HI ( — , born September 4, 1923) is an Urdu satirical and humour writer from Pakistan. Yousufi has also served as the head of several national and international governmental and financial institutions. He received Sitara-e-Imtiaz and Hilal-i-Imtiaz, the highest literary honours by the Government of Pakistan in 1999.

Critics and contemporaries

Ibn-e-Insha, himself an Urdu satirist and humorist, wrote about Yousufi: "…if ever we could give a name to the literary humour of our time, then the only name that comes to mind is that of Yousufi!" Another scholar, Dr Zaheer Fatehpuri, wrote, "We are living in the ‘Yousufi era’ of Urdu literary humour…" The Yousufi era started from 1961 when Yousufi’s first book Chiragh talay was published. So far 11 editions of this book have appeared. It has a foreword titled ‘Pahla pathhar’ written by the author himself plus 12 satirical and humorous articles. In 2008, he is living in Karachi and often appeared in TV programs as well as seminars.

Biography

Yousufi was born in a learned family of Tonk, Rajasthan on September 4, 1923. His father Abdul Karim Khan Yousufi was chairman of the Jaipur Municipality, and later Speaker of the Jaipur Legislative Assembly. Yousufi completed his early education in Rajputana and earned B.A. from Agra University while M.A. Philosophy and LL.B from Aligarh Muslim University. After partition of India his family migrated to Karachi, Pakistan.

Awards

  • Sitara-i-Imtiaz
  • Hilal-i-Imtiaz
  • Quaid-i-Azam (Memorial Medal)
  • Pakistan Academy of Letters Award
  • Hijra Award

Career

Joined Muslim Commercial Bank in 1950, became Deputy General Manager. Joined Allied Bank Ltd in 1965 as Managing Director. In 1974 he became President of United Bank Ltd. In 1977 became Chairman of the Pakistan Banking Council. Awarded Quaid-i-Azam Memorial Medal for distinguished services in banking.