SAYED HAIDER RAZA (1922)
Born in 1922 in Babaria, Madhya Pradesh, Raza moved to Mumbai where he graduated form the Sir J.J. School of Art in 1943 and went on to be one of the founding members of the Progressive Artists' Group in 1947. After receiving a French Government Scholarship in 1950 he left for Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Paris. Raza was awarded the Prix de la Critique in Paris, in 1956. In 1962 he was a visiting lecturer at the University of California in Berkeley, USA.
The Madhya Pradesh State Government invited Raza for a major exhibition of his works in 1978 and also awarded him with the Kalidas Samman in 1996-97. The Government of India awarded him with the Padma Shri in 1981, one of the highest civilian honors, and he was elected as a Fellow of the Lalit Kala Akademi in 1983.
Raza lives and works in Paris and in Gorbio, France.