Jainendra Kumar (जैनेन्द्र कुमार, 2 January 1905 - 24 December 1988), was an influential Hindi writer of 20th century. He explored the human psyche in novels such as Sunita and Tyagapatra. He was awarded one of India's highest civil honours Padma Bhushan in 1971. He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1966, for his work Muktibodh (Novelette), and its highest award, the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship in 1979.