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Nissim Ezekiel Biography: Age, Career, Family and More

F4U Editorial Desk • Updated September 12, 2026 • 6 min read

Quick Info

Date of birth16 December 1924

Age79 (at time of death)

BirthplaceBombay, Bombay Presidency, British India

ProfessionPoet, playwright, editor, art critic, actor

NationalityIndian (1947-2004); British Indian (1924-1947)

Marital statusDivorced

SpouseDaizy Jacob Dandekarand

FamilySon: Elkana; Daughters: Kalpana, Kavita Ezekiel Mendonca

Nissim Ezekiel Biography

Nissim Ezekiel (1924–2004) was a pioneering Indian poet, playwright, critic and editor whose work helped shape post‑independence Indian poetry in English.

Early life and background
Nissim Ezekiel was born on 16 December 1924 in Bombay, then part of the Bombay Presidency in British India. He grew up in Mumbai and belonged to the Bene Israel community. His father, Moses Ezekiel, worked at Wilson College, and his mother, Diana Ezekiel, ran her own school. Ezekiel attended the Convent of Jesus and Mary and Antonio De Souza High School before earning a Bachelor of Arts in Literature from Wilson College in 1947. He went on to study philosophy at Birkbeck College, London, in 1948–1949, where he also took evening classes in subjects such as Chinese, Western philosophy and art appreciation.

Career
Ezekiel began his professional life in journalism and teaching. After graduating he worked as a freelance journalist and for M. N. Roy’s Radical Democratic Party, and he spent a year teaching at Khalsa College in Mumbai. He later held the position of head of the English department at Mithibai College, Bombay, a role he occupied until 1972. He also served as a visiting professor at the University of Leeds in 1964 and at the University of Pondicherry in 1967.

As a writer, Ezekiel’s career launched in the late 1940s and his first book of poems, A Time to Change and Other Poems, was published in 1952. He continued to publish poetry collections, including The Deadly Man (1960), and his last listed collection of prose appeared in 1992. He was active across several literary forms: he wrote plays (including Nalini, Marriage Poem and The Sleep-walkers, published in 1969), worked as an art critic for The Times of India (1964–1966), and edited Poetry India starting in 1966. In 1961 he co-founded the literary journal Jumpo and later co-translated and co-edited an anthology with Vrinda Nabar in 1976.

Ezekiel combined literary work with other occupations: between 1954 and 1959 he was general manager and advertising copywriter for a picture-frame manufacturer. His writing often explored themes of personal loss and the human condition, and several of his poems have been included in Indian school curricula.

Public profile
Ezekiel became known as a central figure in English-language Indian poetry after independence. His contributions were recognized with major honours: he received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1983 and was awarded the Padma Shri in 1988. His poems have been taught in national school systems, and he was regarded as an influential critic, playwright and editor in Indian literary circles. In 2000 an authorised biography by R. Rao, titled Nissim Ezekiel: The Authorized Biography, was published.

Personal life
Ezekiel married in 1952 and later divorced. He had three children: a son, Elkana, and two daughters, Kalpana and Kavita Ezekiel Mendonca, the latter noted as a writer and poet. He turned vegetarian at age 45 and identified with Judaism. His extended family included siblings and a niece, Asha Bhende (born Lily Ezekiel Talkar); an actor nephew, Nandu Bhende, was also among his relatives.

Later years and death
In his later years Ezekiel lived in Mumbai. He suffered from Alzheimer’s disease and died on 9 January 2004 in Mumbai at the age of 79. He was buried at the Jewish Cemetery in Worli, Mumbai.

Latest updates
An authorised biography was published in 2000. Ezekiel’s work continues to be part of Indian school syllabuses and his role in shaping post‑independence Indian poetry in English remains widely acknowledged.
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Recent Work

Selected prose

Collection of prose works published as his last listed work

1992
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Career Highlights

  1. First book of poems: A Time to Change and Other Poems (1952)
  2. Head of the English Department at Mithibai College until 1972
  3. Co-founder of the literary journal Jumpo (1961)
  4. Sahitya Akademi Award (1983)
  5. Padma Shri (1988)
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Frequently Asked Questions

When was Nissim Ezekiel born?

16 December 1924

What is Nissim Ezekiel known for?

Poet, playwright, editor, art critic, actor

What is Nissim Ezekiel’s marital status?

Divorced

Who is Nissim Ezekiel married to?

Daizy Jacob Dandekarand