Tapati Gupta, former Presi, CU professor of English, dies at 76
Times of India | 24 January 2025
12 Kolkata: Tapati Gupta, former professor of English language and literature and wife of renowned Rabindrasangeet singer Swapan Gupta, passed away on Thursday afternoon. She was 76. The couple was widely admired, with Tapati serving as Swapan's eyes while he was the first audience for her poetry.
A distinguished alumna of Presidency College (1967) and the University of Calcutta (MA, 1969), Gupta studied under scholars Taraknath Sen and Sailendra Kumar Sen. Her career included teaching positions at Presidency College and the University of Calcutta.
Former Presidency University VC Malabika Sarkar, her junior by one batch, expressed shock at her passing, recalling their recent collaboration on a memorial meeting via Zoom. "She never declined to chair conferences I arranged," Sarkar noted.
Professor Chinmoy Guha, who joined CU when Gupta was department head, remembered her as one of the most humane academics. "Her warmth and ability to connect with everyone were remarkable. She was a wonderful painter too." Jadavpur University professor Sonia Sahoo fondly recalled her as a quiet, knowledgeable teacher.
Gupta's passing marks the end of an era in Kolkata's academic and cultural landscape.