Prominent poet Al Mahmud passed away at a city hospital on Friday night. He was 82.

The poet breathed his last at 11:05pm at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Ibn Sina Hospital in the city’s Dhanmondi area, said Abid Azam, the poet’s family friend and assistant.

Earlier on Saturday night, he was hospitalized under the supervision of Dr Abdul Hye due to illness. He had been suffering from multiple old-age complications since long, said the port’s assistant, reports the UNB.

Mir Abdus Shukur Al Mahmud, best known as Al Mahmud, is a Bangladeshi poet, novelist, and short-story writer.

He is considered one of the greatest Bengali poets to have emerged in the 20th century. His work in Bengali poetry is dominated by his frequent use of regional dialects.

In the 1950s he was among those Bengali poets who were outspoken in their writing on such subjects as the events of the Bengali Language Movement, nationalism, political and economic repression, and the struggle against the West Pakistani government.

He was born in Morail Village of Brahmanbaria District in Bangladesh in 1936. His childhood and secondary education days were spent in this village which is located adjacent to Brahmanbaria town.

Mahmud started his career as a journalist and obtained widespread recognition after Lok Lokantor was published in 1963.

Al Mahmud was honoured with Ekushey Padak, Bangla Academy Award, and Kabi Jasim Uddin Award in recognition of his contribution to bengali literature.