Bankim Chandra Chatterjee

Bankim Chandra Chatterjee

Born: 27th June 1838
Died: 8th April 1894

Bankim Chandra Chatterjee or Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay was born on 27th June 1838, in the village Kantalpara, Bengal. The Bengali word ‘Bankim Chandra’ in his name means ‘the moon on the second day of the bright fortnight’. Bankim Chandra Chatterjee had his primary education in Midnapur and was a brilliant student. After his early education, for the next six years, Bankim Chandra joined the ‘Mohsin College’ at Hooghly and studied there. Apart from his textbooks, Bankim Chandra used to read other books in his free time. He was also interested in studying Sanskrit, which helped him later when he wrote books in Bengali. In 1856, he joined the Presidency College in Calcutta for higher studies. Despite the strong revolt against the rule of East India Company during 1857, Bankim Chandra continued his studies and secured his Bachelor’s degree in Arts i.e. B.A. in 1859. In the same year, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee was appointed as Deputy Collector by the Lieutenant Governor of Calcutta. He remained in Government service for 32 years and got retired in 1891. During his tenure, he worked as a very dedicated public servant. Later he began his literary career as a poet and turned to creative writings. Durgeshnandini was his first Bengali romance which was published in 1865. Some of his famous novels include Kapalkundala, Rajsimha, Chandrasekhar, Mrinalini, Vishbriksha, etc. Anand Math was his most famous novel which was published in 1882 that contained the song “Vande Mataram”, and was later adopted as our National Song. Many of his novels have been translated into almost all the major Indian languages. No Bengali writer before has gained such impulsive and universal popularity as Shri Bankim Chandra Chatterjee. He died on 8th April 1894. Swami Vivekanand Subharti University on his Birth Anniversary remembers a superb storyteller and a master of romance and the author of our National Song “Vande Mataram”.

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