Kolkata: A gifted orator and a Parliamentarian par excellence, legendary Communist leader Hirendranath Mukherjee symbolised the golden era of Indian Parliamentary politics passed away today (Jul 30, 2004).

Mukherjee who jocularly referred to himself as ''a jack of several incompatible trades'' was a contemporary of veteran Communist leader P C Joshi, Ranen Sen, Somnath Lahiri and Bhabani Sen and was closely associated with leaders including, Muzaffer Ahmed and Abdul Halim.

A leading figure in the political and cultural life of the country, Hiren Mukherjee resented being dubbed as ''a grand old Communist'' and preferred to call himself an ''unrepentant Communist'', holding fast to the 'ism' that made him join the then 'illegal' Communist Party of India (CPI) in July 1936.

He had served in bodies as disparate as the All India Congress Committee (AICC) (1938-39) and the National Council of the Communist Party of India (1958-68). He was a member of the Lok Sabha from 1952 to 1977, a deputy leader of the Communist party in Parliament (1952-64) and then its leader from 1964 to 1967.

A prolific writer in Bengali and English, he had authored studies in Gandhi, Nehru, Subhas Chandra Bose, Vivekananda, Rabindranath Tagore, besides a near-classic on India's Freedom Struggle.

He was awarded honorary doctorates (D Litt) by Andhra, Calcutta, North Bengal and Rabindra Bharati universities. He was also the recipient of the Soviet Land Nehru Prize (1978), Vidyasagar Literary Prize (1991), Padmabhusan (1990) and Padma Vibhusan (1991).