KARACHI, Sept 16: Professor Dr Rafat Karim, Pakistan’s leading authority on Shakespeare and president of the Shakespeare Association of Pakistan, died of cardiac arrest on Tuesday. He was 68.

Dr Karim was at a private school function when the tragedy struck. According to family friends, Dr Karim was perfectly healthy and had no history of any recent ailment. He leaves a wife, two daughters and a son.

Born in Lucknow on August 14, Dr Karim was considered one of the formidable champions of the English language as a medium of communication and instruction. He started writing at a very young age, though he did not receive formal education in school as he was home-schooled by his father. After graduating from the University of Karachi, he did his Masters in English and economics from Punjab University.

Dr Karim had a long and illustrious career at Karachi University’s English department and was currently engaged as registrar and dean of the faculty of arts and social sciences at a private university.

His strong interest in William Shakespeare’s writings led him to set up the Shakespeare Association of Pakistan in 1997, of which he was the president till his death. The association held its first international conference the same year, which was a huge success, while the second one, planned last year, was cancelled.

Dr Karim had been the only person from Pakistan to regularly attend international Shakespeare conferences and seminars around the world.

In 1992, he was elected to the executive committee of the Australia and New Zealand Shakespeare Association and represented Pakistan on the panel of Shakespeare Quarterly that is published by the Folgers Shakespeare Library in Washington DC.

In 2006, he attended the 8th World Shakespeare Congress in Brisbane and the 37th International Shakespeare Conference in Stratford-Upon-Avon, where he was the only delegate from the Islamic bloc.

“Dr Karim used to celebrate Shakespeare’s birthday every year at Karachi University’s English department. His contributions to the English language are notable and his death a great loss. Being the most active member of the Shakespeare Association, he had devoted all his time to literary pursuits,” Professor Muneer Wasti, a teacher at KU said.

Recollecting her long association with Dr Karim, Lubna Ahsan, who was in the process of doing her PhD under Dr Karim and would be the first doctorate on Shakespeare in Pakistan, said: “Professor sahib was not only an authority on Shakespeare, but also had deep understanding of every aspect of the English language. We were in the process of setting up a Shakespeare resource centre. He had been a great guide to all his students. He was a gem. The loss can never be recovered.”

Dr Karim was due to attend the 11th annual American conference in Islamabad next month while he himself planned to organise a conference on fiction next year.

He was buried in Gizri graveyard. The soyem will be held on Thursday between Asr and Maghrib prayers at Flat No 2, Boat View Apartments, ground floor, Block F.