Mani Sankar Mukherjee (7 December 1933 – 20 February 2026), commonly known by his pen name Sankar in both Bengali- and English-language literature, was an Indian writer in the Bengali language, who also served as the Sheriff of Kolkata. He grew up in Debdoot Sheet Nagar in Howrah of West Bengal.

Sankar was the son of Avaya Mukherjee. Sankar's father died while he was still a teenager, as a result of which Sankar became a clerk to the last British barrister of the Calcutta High Court, Noel Frederick Barwell. At the same time, he entered in Surendranath College (formerly Ripon College, Calcutta) for study. He had various jobs, such as typist, cleaner, private tutor and hawker. ^{[citation needed]}

After Noel Barwell's sudden death, Sankar, the professional version of his name adopted for the law courts, sought to honour Barwell. "First, I wanted to build a statue. It was not possible. I then wanted to name a road. Even that was not feasible. And then I decided to write a book about him," according to Sankar. That impetus led to his first novel, about Barwell, that according to some critics is perhaps the most stimulating -- Kato Ajanare (So Much Unknown).

Around the same time in 1962, Sankar conceived Chowringhee on a rainy day at the waterlogged crossing of Central Avenue and Dalhousie – a busy business district in the heart of Kolkata. The novel, set in the opulent hotel he called Shahjahan, was made into a cult movie in 1968. It is wrongly said that Sankar marketed his literary work to Bengali households with the marketing slogan A bagful of Sankar (Ek Bag Sankar) and collections of his books were sold in blue packets through this marketing effort. He was rewarded with Sahitya Akademi Award on 18 March 2021 for his outstanding autobiographical work of Eka Eka Ekashi.

Sankar died on 20 February 2026, at the age of 92. He had been hospitalised 15 days prior.