Lalmohan Ghosh (1849 – 18 October 1909) was the sixteenth President of the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...

and Bengali barrister and also Co-Founder of

Early life

He was born in

Krishnagar Krishnanagar (; also spelled Krishnagar) is a city and a municipality. in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarter of the Nadia district. History Krishnanagar municipality was established in 1864 and is one of the oldest municipali ...

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fou ...

in 1849, the second son of Ramolochan Ghose, gentleman. After passing the Entrance examination in the first division, Ghosh left for England in 1869 to qualify as a barrister. He was admitted to the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn ...

on 19 November 1870 and was Called to the Bar on 7 June 1873, joining the Calcutta Bar in that same year. His elder brother Monomohun Ghose was also a barrister and well known political personality of India.

Political career

Ghosh was elected president of the Madras session (1903) of the Indian National Congress. His social and political ideals were derived mostly from the liberal humanism of Victorian England. He strongly believed the importance of Western education for the people of India as a force to unite the people into one nation and he pleaded for compulsory primary education in India in his presidential address at the Madras session of the Congress. Ghosh never thought of a severance of relation between England and India, but he also believed that it was necessary to acquire by constitutional means, rights for Indians to the British type rules of law and justice, to free expression of opinion, to opportunities of trade and service, and to democratic legislative institutions. In 1885, Ghosh stood as the

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

candidate for the newly created parliamentary constituency of

Deptford Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, within the London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a Ford (crossing), ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century to the late 19th it was home ...

, London. Although he was unsuccessful in his attempt, he became the first Indian to stand for election to the British Parliament.Bose, K. (1991). 'Lalmohan Ghosh and the Emergence of Indian Nationalism' in ''Proceedings of the Indian History Congress''. Vol. 52, p.553.

Death

Lalmohan Ghosh died on 18 October 1909 in

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

References

Lalmohan Ghosh
1849 births 1909 deaths Bengali politicians Bengali Hindus University of Calcutta alumni Presidents of the Indian National Congress People from Krishnagar Krishnagar Government College alumni {{WestBengal-INC-politician-stub