Asraf Siddiqui was born in 1927. He has had a teaching career and held several distinguished positions: university rector and director of the Bangla Academy, to name just two. Apart from his professional life, he devotes himself to research and is the author of an enormous work of compilation of works of the folklore heritage of Bangladesh. He has published a large number of literary works; poetry holds a more important place there than fiction. Asraf Siddiqui has received numerous awards for his various works, including a Unesco prize in 1966.