Ahmed Shah Bokhari ( Patras) was born in Peshawar
on 1st October 1898. His early education was in Peshawar. In 1916 he moved from
Islamia College, Peshawar to join
Government College, Lahore.
In 1922 he completed his M.A. in English from
Government College, Lahore, and
was appointed as lecturer at Government College, Lahore. He did this job from
1922 - 1925.
In 1923 he married Zubaida Wanchoo, a Punjabi-speaking Kashmiri lady, and
daughter of a Superintendent of Police. They had three children - two sons Mansoor & Haroon, and a daughter Roshan Ara. Roshan Ara died as a child.
From 1925 - 1927 he studied at Emmanuel College, Cambridge University to complete
a Tripos in English, with a first class first
From 1927 - 1939 he was a Professor at
Government College Lahore. During this
period his literary pursuits and teaching skills flourished.
In 1927 he published his famous essays "Patras Kay Mazameen", which had been
written a few years earlier.
In 1939 he was appointed Deputy Director-General of All-India Radio in Delhi.
From 1941 - 1947 he remained Director General, All India Radio, Delhi
1947 - 1950 he was Principal, Government College Lahore. During this time he resurrected the
Government College, and these years came to be known as the golden years of
Government College Lahore.
From 1951 - 1954 he served as Pakistan's first Permanent Representative at the
United Nations.
From 1954 - 1958, he worked with the
Secretary General of the
United nations, as
the Under-Secretary of the United Nations, Head of Information
He passed away on 5th December 1958 in New York and is buried in Valhalla
Cemetery, New York.
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