Shripad Krushna Kolhatkar

Shripad Krushna Kolhatkar (Marathi: श्रीपाद कृष्ण कोल्हटकर) (1871-1934) was a Marathi writer from Maharashtra, India.

He was born on June 29, 1871 in Nagpur. While in high school, he wrote a play named Sukha Malika (सुखमालिका). During his high school years and, later, college years, he widely read both English and Marathi literature, the latter particularly including Vishnushastri Krushnashastri Chiplunkar's Nibandhamala (निबंधमाला).

According to the social custom of his times, Kolhatkar's family arranged his marriage when he was 14. At age 17, he finished his high school education and joined Deccan College in Pune to receive his bachelor's degree in1891. After obtaining a law degree in 1897, he started his law practice in Akola and thenJalgaon Jamod.

Kolhatkar was a pioneer in the field of humor as well as literary criticism in Marathi. He wrote a 110-page critique on the play Totayache Banda (तोतयाचे बंड) of Narasimha Chintaman Kelkar, which included his thoughts on the art of writing plays, and he wrote a 135-page critique on the novel Ragini (रागिणी) of Vaman Malhar Joshi, which included his thoughts on the art of writing novels.

Kolhatkar also wrote 12 plays; poems; short stories; and novels. Besides entertaining readers, bringing about social reform was an important objective of Kolhatkar's writings. Writers Ram Ganesh Gadkari, Vishnu Sakharam Khandekar, Gajanan Tryambak Madkholkar, Bhargavaram Viththal Varerkar, and Prahlad Keshav Atre honored him as their guru.

He presided over Marathi Sahitya Sammelan held in Pune in 1913.