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Shyama Prasad Mukherjee

Indian politician, nationalist, barrister and academician (1901–1953)

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He was also the president of Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha from 1943 to 1946. He was arrested by the Jammu and Kashmir Police in 1953 when he tried to cross the border of the state. He was provisionally diagnosed with a heart attack and shifted to a hospital but died a day later. Since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is the successor to the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, Mukherjee is also regarded as the founder of the BJP by its members.

Early life and academic career

Shyama Prasad Mukherjee was born during the British Raj on 6 July 1901 in Calcutta, now located in the West Bengal state of India. His grandfather Ganga Prasad Mukherjee was born in Jirat and was the first in the family who migrated to and settled in Calcutta.

His father was Ashutosh Mukherjee, a judge of the High Court of Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, and was also the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Calcutta. His mother was Jogamaya Devi Mukherjee. He was a very meritorious student and he came to Calcutta to study with the help of the wealthy people of Jirat. Later he settled down in the Bhawanipore area of Calcutta.

Mukherjee enrolled in Bhawanipur's Mitra Institution in 1906 and his behaviour in school was later described favourably by his teachers. In 1914, he passed his matriculation examination and was admitted into Presidency College. He stood seventeenth in the Inter Arts Examination in 1916 and graduated in English, securing the first position in first class in 1921. He was married to Sudha Devi on 16 April 1922. Mukherjee also completed an MA in Bengali, being graded as first class in 1923 and also became a fellow of the Senate of the University of Calcutta in 1923. He completed his LLB in 1924.

He enrolled as an advocate in Calcutta High Court in 1924, the same year in which his father had died. Subsequently, he left for England in 1926 to study at Lincoln's Inn and was called to the English Bar in the same year. In 1934, at the age of 33, he became the youngest Vice-Chancellor of the University of Calcutta; he held the office until 1938. During his term as Vice-Chancellor, Rabindranath Tagore delivered the University Convocation Address in Bengali for the first time, and the Indian vernacular was introduced as a subject for the highest examination. On 10 September 1938, the Senate of Calcutta University resolved to confer honorary D.Litt. on the Ex-Vice-Chancellor in its opinion "by reason of eminent position and attainments, a fit and proper person to receive such a degree." Mukherjee received the D.Litt from Calcutta University on 26 November 1938. He was also the 15th President of the Association of Indian Universities during 1941–42.

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