Hazari Prasad Dwivedi was born in District Balia (U.P.) and keeping with  family  tradition got his early  education in Sanskrit. In 1930 he passed the Inter-mediate and  Acharya Examination in Astrology from Banaras Hindu University. From 1940 to 1950 he was the Director of Hindi Bhavan in Vishvabharti (West Bengal). He came in close contact with Rabindranath Tagore during his stay in Shantiniketan. It is said that the deep faith in the human spirit which is developed and later manifested in his writings took roots under the influence of Tagore.

He was appointed a member of the first Official Language Commission in the year 1955 and was awarded Padma Bhushan' in 1957. In 1960, he was offered the post of Professor and head of the Department of Hindi by the Punjab University, Chandigarh, a post which he held almost till his retirement. However, a little before retirement he came back to the Banaras Hindu University as its rector  and ultimately chaired the U.P. Hindi Academy.

He made an effort to analyse Hindi literature in the context of Sanskrit, Pali, Prakrit and Apabhransha literature and also as a natural development of composite Indian thought. He believed that the basic concern of great literature should be to uphold human values and this can only be achieved by keeping in mind the broad base of unified stream of humanity and not limit it to the elitist sensibility. Therefore, in  all his writings whether on a particular period or a poet, Dwivediji based his conclusion primarily on this concern for human values. He wrote an essay on the theme "Human being is the goal of all human activity including literature". 'Hindi sahitya ki bhumika' is his most significant work as his basic principles and approach to literature are manifested in this work.

In his four lectures compiled under the heading 'Hindi sahitya ka adikal', he has reinterpreted the new discoveries and researches in a manner that necessitated a fresh enquiry into the history of Hindi literature.

"Banabhatta ki Atmakatha" which was followed by punarnava and others like 'Charuchandralekh' Anamdas ka Aotha also initiates a prose style, not commonly used even for historical themes. He offers lengthy descriptions in an ornate prose style, which evokes a historical panorama. He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi annual prize for his collection of essays 'Alok Parva ' in 1973.

The Department of Posts is pleased to release a special commemorative stamp on Shri Hazari Prasad Dwivedi on the occasion of his birth anniversary.

Source : Information Folder issued by Indian Posts & Telegraph Department, Government of India