Google on Wednesday celebrated the 87th birth anniversary of Urdu writer Abdul Qavi Desnavi with a doodle. Desnavi, a writer, critic, bibliographer and linguist, has written many books. In five decades of his career, his important works include books on freedom fighter Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad and Mirza Ghalib.

Desnavi was a professor and head of the Urdu department in Saifia College in Bhopal till 1990. He had a tremendous influence on the evolution of Urdu literature and academic thought in India. He has also mentored poets and writers like Javed Akhtar and Iqbal Masood.

Born on November 1, 1930, to the family of scholar Sulaiman Nadvi who was a recognised historian and biographer of the prophet. Desnavi’s father, Syed Mohammed Saeed Raza was a professor of Urdu, Arabic and Persion languages in St Xavier’s College, Mumbai.

The doodle was created by Prabha Mallya. Google’s logo has been stylised in Urdu-style script while the doodle shows Desnavi at work.