Saratchandra Chattopadhyay was born on 15th 1876 in Debanandapur -a small village in West Bengal.under district of Hooghly. He was one of the famous and popular bengali novelists of the 20th century.

He was in deep poverty in his early age. He got his early education at his paternal uncle`s house.He was a student of fine arts but did not continue his study in this section due to his financial condition.. For a time his father was employed in Bihar -the rest of the family lived in Bhagalpore with his maternal grandfather. After passing the Entrance Exam in second division in 1894 Saratchandra Chattopadhyay was admitted to the Tejnarayan Jubilee College. There he read such novels as Dicken`s Tale of Two Cities, David Copperfield and My Love by Lord Litton. His Father was a great scholar, and he had tried his hand at stories and novels, dramas and poems, in short every branch of literature, but never could finish anything. He wanted to be like his father and started writing. He also created Bhagalpore Shitya Sabha where a handwritten children magazine named Sishu was published.

The short stories Kakbasha and Kashinath were first published in this magazine.1895 his mother died and in the next year he was propelled to leave the college for abject poverty. In bhagolpur he came close contact with a number of significant people who influenced his literary career. Among those mentionable are Nirupama Devi - author of the Annapurnaar Mandir and her brother Bibhutibhushan Bhatta and Rajendranath Majumdar (Raju). Raju is said to be the famous Indranath character in his masterpiece Srikanto. In thois period he also came contact with Sourindra Mohan Mukherjee - who later helped saratchandra to get the Bardidi novel published in the Bharati - one of the famous literary magazines at that time.

In this period he wrote many short stories and novel like - Abhimaan, Bojha, Anupamar Prem, Sukumarer Balyakatha, Bardidi, Chandranath, Debdas and Pashan. At that time he was mostly influenced by cotemporary English novel and he followed the style and the concept in his writings.

Apart from writing he had other talents too. He could sing, act and also played instruments like flute and tabla. He was a good painter and sportsman too. Sarat Chandra practiced Homeopathy and opened a primary school and formed a party of Keertan music. With some budding talents he started publishing a magazine named chaya in 1901. Saratchandra was very responsive and fragile when he was young. He left home for a divergence with his father. Unaccompanied, dejected and indifferent, Sarat lost purpose and lacked enthusiasm.

In this time he walked around crematorium at night. After that he went to Mujaffarpur to join with Naga monks in 1902. His father died in this time and he came to Calcutta for a short while to complete his father`s last rites.1903 his famous short story Mandir was published. It was selected the best story of the year. But it was published in the name of Surendranath Ganguli-a pseudonym of Sarat Chandra. For the regular writings in the Jamuna mazine he used two other pseudonyms-Anila Devi and Anupama.

In 1906 he married Shanti Devi but she died in 1908.to forget the sorrow and avoid the loneliness of life he started reading sociology, politics, philosophy, health sciences, psychology and history borrowing books from the Barnerd Free Library. Saratchandra Chatterjee was married in 1910 the second time an adolescent widow named Mokshada - who he renamed Hiranmoyee. He then went to Rangoon and took a job in Accounts department of the Public Works Department.

He returned to Calcutta in 1916. Again he started writing in many magazines. His popularity grew up .In this time many of his novels were staged and translated in different languages. Many noted filmmakers made films based on his stories. Sarat Chandra was actively involved in Indian freedom movement and became the President of Howrah District Congress at the request of C. R. Das and wrote regularly in Narayan edited by the latter. Pather Daabi was banned for alleged preaching of sedition from 1927 to 1939 and again in 1940 under Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code and under the Dramatic Performance Act respectively. Conservative Hindus also attacked this novel.

His work represented rural Bengali society and he often wrote against social superstitions and oppression. He felt that his duty as a writer was to raise awareness about social malice. He is also known for his psychological interpretation and distinct story telling process.

In 1923 Jagattarini Gold Medal was awarded by Calcutta University.Romain Rolland honoured him as one of the best novelists of the world in 1925. In 1936 honorary D. Lit. degree was given by Dacca University.

He died of liver cancer on 16th January in 1938 in Kolkata.