Mustafa Monwar, the Ekushey Padak-winning painter, puppetry pioneer and cultural figure, passed away at a Dhaka hospital on June 29 at the age of 90.

His assistant Rubel Mia confirmed the death. The son of the poet Golam Mostafa, Monwar built a career spanning painting, children’s television production, broadcasting, and wider cultural work.

Mustafa Monwar was admitted to hospital with pneumonia on June 14 and had been under intensive care. He was briefly taken off ventilator support, but was placed back on a ventilator after his condition deteriorated. In September 2024, he received treatment for prostate cancer in Delhi and had recovered.

Born on September 1, 1935, in Magura district’s Nakol village, Monwar graduated top of his class from the Government College of Art and Craft in Kolkata.

Monwar is widely known as the father or pioneer of puppet theatre in Bangladesh. He began his career as an art teacher but earned national recognition for his creative children’s programming on the state broadcaster Bangladesh Television (BTV), which shaped the childhoods of successive generations.

He was awarded the Ekushey Padak, one of the country’s highest civilian honours, in 2004 for his contribution to art and culture, and received the Sultan Gold Medal from the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy in 2018.

He is survived by his wife Merry Monwar, a son and a daughter.