Probal Dasgupta

Probal Dasgupta, 72, died on June 1, 2026. Probal Dasgupta was known publicly as an Indian Esperantist and president of the Universal Esperanto Association (2007–2013). He published his first article in phonology in Indian Linguistics, the journal of the Linguistic Society of India, at the age of eighteen. His doctoral dissertation at New York University, Questions and Relative and Complement Clauses in a Bangla Grammar (1980), contributed to the study of Bangla syntax. Dasgupta's research focused on Bangla syntax, morphology and sociolinguistics. He is associated with the development of the substantivist approach to linguistics in collaboration with Rajendra Singh. Beyond formal linguistics, he wrote on Esperanto studies and language politics, including The Otherness of English: India's Auntie Tongue Syndrome (1993), which examined the sociolinguistic position of English in India. Public biographical listings identify Dasgupta as an Indian Esperantist. Dasgupta was also associated with president of the Universal Esperanto Association (2007–2013). This public record remains centered on Dasgupta's work as an Indian Esperantist and president of the Universal Esperanto Association (2007–2013) and the documented milestones of that career.