Indian psychoanalyst, scholar and writer Sudhir Kakar died on 22 April 2024. The Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad records the date; The Indian Express reported that he was 85 and attributed confirmation to academic and art curator Dr Alka Pande.
Who was Sudhir Kakar?
Kakar was an Indian psychoanalyst, scholar and writer whose work examined psychoanalysis in relation to culture and society, religion and biography. Oxford University Press describes his writings as spanning those fields and brings selected work from four decades together in its four-volume collection The Mind in the World.
His academic career included appointments at Harvard, IIM Ahmedabad and IIT Delhi, as well as visiting roles at other institutions. IIM Ahmedabad’s archive records his association with the institute beginning in 1964–65: he was first a fellow and research staff member, then joined its Organizational Behaviour faculty in 1968 and served through 1971. Oxford University Press’s biography also records a Harvard lectureship and a professorship at IIM Ahmedabad, among other affiliations.
Penguin Random House India says Kakar trained as a psychoanalyst at the Sigmund Freud Institute in Frankfurt and established a clinic in Delhi in 1975. Its author page describes him as a psychoanalyst and writer and lists books including The Inner World, Shamans, Mystics and Doctors, Intimate Relations, The Colours of Violence and Young Tagore.
#1 Best Overall
When did Sudhir Kakar die?
Kakar died on Monday, 22 April 2024, aged 85. IIM Ahmedabad’s archive gives the date, and The Indian Express reported it the following day. In that report, Pande confirmed his death, saying, “I can confirm that he passed away yesterday.” The newspaper also attributed to Pande the report that Kakar had throat cancer and had been ill for some time; that account is not independently confirmed by the institutional and publisher sources cited here.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Where to begin with Kakar’s books
Readers can choose a starting point by the kind of writing they want rather than treating the titles as a ranking:
- A Book of Memory: Confessions and Reflections is presented by Penguin Random House India as autobiographical writing, offering Kakar’s reflections on his own life.
- The Mind in the World, published by Oxford University Press India, is a four-volume selection of writings from across four decades.
- Death and Dying is another title listed by Penguin Random House India, focused on the subject named in its title.
Penguin Random House India describes Kakar as the author of seventeen nonfiction books; that figure is the publisher’s biographical claim.
Quick Recap
Best Value
Rank #3
Sources
- Oxford University Press: The Mind in the World and Kakar’s biography
- Penguin Random House India: Sudhir Kakar author page
- Penguin Random House India: Death and Dying
- IIM Ahmedabad: Sudhir Kakar archive
- The Indian Express: report on Kakar’s death
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
What’s actually slowing this PC down?
Pick the symptom - the matching free tool is one click away.
