A seminar held at Calcutta Book Fair on February 6 saw an author and an academician discuss the contribution of Jesuit priests to the Bengali language. It included 85-year-old Father Christian Mignon (picture left by Anindya S. Ray), who translated The Bible into Bengali.

Organised by the St Xavier’s College Calcutta Alumni Association, the seminar was an attempt to take the 150 years’ celebrations of the college beyond the campus. Also present were Father Felix Raj, the principal of St Xavier’s College, and the rector, Father George Ponodath.

While journalist and author Shankarlal Bhattacharya spoke about educationists Father Pierre Fallon and Father Robert Antoine, Calcutta University professor Chinmoy Guha was all praise for Father Paul Detienne.

Fr Mignon, who worked on his translation, called the Mangalbarta Bible, for 40 years, stressed on the need to keep alive the spirit of the original while translating. “The aim is not to translate every line, but to retain the essence of the work,” he said.

“Fr Fallon and Fr Antoine taught comparative literature at Jadavpur University. Fr Fallon taught us moral science in college. He taught it like literature,” said Bhattacharya.

Speaking of Fr Detienne, who was in India from 1949 to 1977, Guha said: “He wrote Diaryr Chherapata and Rojnamcha, a series of articles published in the late 1960s and early 1970s.” Fr Detienne now lives in Brussels.