Amrita Pritam

Age: 86

Summary: Indian renowned writer whose prose and poetry reflected the pain of the subcontinent's division and the turbulence of her own life who was first published at age 17 and later enjoyed a career that spanned more than 60 years during which she wrote 24 novels, 15 collections of short stories, and 23 volumes of poetry in both Punjabi and Hindi, and who was the first Indian woman to win the country's prestigious Sahitya Academy Award for literary merit and the Padma Sri, one of India's highest civilian honors.

Cause of Death: Lengthy illness

Born: August 31, 1919

Died: October 31, 2005

Location: New Delhi, India