Distinguished Indian writer Nirad Chaudhuri is to be honoured with Oxford's 42nd Blue Plaque on Saturday.

Mr Chaudhuri, 1897-1999, made his home in Oxford in 1970 and lived in the city until his death, aged 102.

A plaque is to be unveiled at his home in Lathbury Road, North Oxford, at 3pm.

Eda Forbes, secretary of the Oxfordshire Blue Plaques Board, said: "He was a very extraordinary character. You can see that by the fact he wrote his last book shortly before he passed away aged 102. A lot of people from Oxford's Indian community are expected to attend.

“His granddaughter is coming over from India especially for the occasion."

Mr Chaudhuri could often be spotted walking around the streets of Oxford dressed impeccably in a three-piece suit.

He made his name as a political commentator and writer in the years leading up to India's independence.

His most famous book was Autobiography of an Unkn- own India, published in 1951, which looked at the country's history, culture and the period of British rule.

However, he continued to write well into his old age with the publication of his last book, The Three Horsemen of the Apocalypse, in 1998.

Mr Chaudhuri was awarded a CBE and in 1992 was given an honorary degree by the University of Oxford.

He will join a long list of people to be honoured with a blue plaque, including Oxfordshire authors Elizabeth Goudge and CS Lewis, Victorian photographer Henry Taunt and scientist William Buckland — the man who gave the first description of a dinosaur.

Writer Amit Chaudhuri, who is not related, said: "Nirad Chaudhuri was one of the earliest Indian writers to produce works in English and that was a real achievement.

"He produced this amazing autobiography which, I feel, the greatest ever written in the English language."