Damodar Thakur, author of monographs and former principal of Patna College, died at his Rajendra Nagar home on Thursday morning. He was 89.

Sources in Thakur’s family said he died of a heart attack.

After earning a first class MA in English from St John’s College, Cambridge, Thakur charted a distinguished career in higher education.

He held various academic posts including principal of Ranchi College. He was also the director of higher education in Bihar.

Loved and respected by his colleagues and friends, his student’s grieved Thakur’s demise.

Shanker Ashish Dutta, a senior English teacher whose family was close to Thakur’s, said: “I did not get the opportunity to study from him but I once listened to a lecture by him. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

Senior Patna University teacher Shiv Jatan Thakur, who was a student of Thakur, said: “It is a big loss for me. Prof. Damodar Thakur was my teacher at Patna University. Besides being an extraordinary mentor, he was a very good human being.”

Chief minister Nitish Kumar also expressed his condolence. “Prof. Damodar Thakur’s death is a big loss to the academic world,” said Nitish.

The author of a number of acclaimed works of literary criticism including a monograph — The Lonely Pursuit — on the life and works of Hindi poet Suryakant Tripathi “Nirala”, Thakur is survived by his wife, two sons, three daughters, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.