Archive · 24 Aug 2026
Yasmin Shaikh, Marathi Grammar Scholar, Dies in Pune at 101
Yasmin Shaikh was a famous teacher and expert on the Marathi language.
She was born as Jerusha Reuben in a Jewish family.
Later, she married a Muslim man and became known as Yasmin Shaikh.
She spent more than 70 years studying, teaching and improving Marathi.
She wrote books that helped people spell and write Marathi correctly.
She taught students, teachers, writers and civil service candidates.
She believed people from different regions could speak Marathi in different ways, but formal writing should follow common rules.
She died at her home in Pune on August 24, 2026, at the age of 101.
Veteran Marathi grammarian, professor and language scholar Yasmin Shaikh died in Pune on August 24, 2026, aged 101.
Born Jerusha Reuben in a Jewish family, she later married Muslim theatre manager Aziz Ahmed Ibrahim Shaikh and adopted the name Yasmin Shaikh.
She taught Marathi for about 34 years at institutions including Milind College of Science and SIES College, where she headed the Marathi department.
Her major contributions included Marathi Shabdlekhan Kosh, Marathi Lekhan Margdarshika, textbook editing and work on grammar, spelling and standard Marathi usage.
Raj Thackeray, Devendra Fadnavis and Sunetra Pawar paid tribute to Shaikh, whose work influenced generations of Marathi learners and writers.
- Who
- Yasmin Shaikh, a Marathi professor, grammarian and language scholar.
- What
- She died at age 101 after a career of more than seven decades devoted to Marathi education, grammar and writing.
- When
- August 24, 2026; she was born on June 21, 1925.
- Where
- At her home in Pune, Maharashtra.
- Why
- Family sources said she died from age-related ailments.
- Birth name
- Jerusha Reuben
- Date of birth
- June 21, 1925
- Age at death
- 101
- Teaching career
- About 34 years
- Known works
- Marathi Shabdlekhan Kosh and Marathi Lekhan Margdarshika
- Academic roles
- Marathi professor and later head of the Marathi department at SIES College
- Other contributions
- Editing Marathi textbooks with Balbharati and advising the magazine Antarnaad