Jyotirmayee Gangopadhyay (1889-1945) was a Bengali educationist, feminist, and a member of the Brahmo Samaj.

Early life

Jyotirmayee was born on 25 January 1889 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 ...

Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William and later Bengal Province, was a subdivision of the British Empire in India. At the height of its territorial jurisdiction, it covered large parts of what is now South Asia and ...

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

. Her father

Dwarkanath Ganguly Dwarkanath Gangopadhyay (also known as Dwarkanath Ganguly, 20 April 184427 June 1898) was a Brahmo reformer in Bengal, British India. He made substantial contributions towards societal enlightenment and the emancipation of women. Ganguly dedicat ...

was a social reformer, a leader of the Brahmo Samaj and an Indian Nationalist and her mother Kadambini Devi was the first female student from University of Kolkata to graduate in a medical field.

Career

Jyotirmayee graduated from Brahmo Balika Shikshalaya (Brahmo Girls' School) and completed her B.A. in the

Bethune College Bethune College is a women's college located on Bidhan Sarani in Kolkata, India, and affiliated to the University of Calcutta. It is the oldest women's college in India. It was established as a girls' school in 1849, and as a college in 1879. ...

of Kolkata. In 1908 she completed her M.A. in philosophy from the

University of Kolkata The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a public collegiate state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered one of best state research university all over India every year, C ...

. She taught at the Bethune Collegiate School and after that in the

Ravenshaw College Ravenshaw University, formerly known as Ravenshaw college, is a co-educational state university situated in Cuttack, Odisha on the eastern coast of India. Founded as Ravenshaw College in 1868, the institution became a university in 2006. The un ...

Cuttack Cuttack (, or officially Kataka ) in Odia is the former capital and the second largest city in the Indian state of Odisha. It is the headquarters of the Cuttack district. The name of the city is an anglicised form of ''Kataka'' which literall ...

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

. She moved to Sri Lanka to join the Women's College as its principal. In 1920 she served as the principal of Jullundur Kanya Mahavidyalay In 1925 she served as the principal of Brahmo Girls' School and the next year in Vidyasagar Bani Bhavan. She joined the Buddhist College, Ceylon in 1929. She joined the

Non-Cooperation movement The Non-cooperation movement was a political campaign launched on 4 September 1920, by Mahatma Gandhi to have Indians revoke their cooperation from the British government, with the aim of persuading them to grant self-governance.

in the early 1920s. Jyotirmayee raised a female volunteer corp for 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 Em ...

. In 1926 she started the Students' Association for Social Service. She joined the Bengal Provincial Congress Committee and the Satyagraha movement. She served as the vice-president of the Women's Satyagraha Committee. In 1930 and 1932 she was jailed for her involvement in the Satyagraha movement. She was a founding member of the Aryasthan Insurance Company. She was elected city councilor to the Kolkata Municipal Corporation. In 1942 she was arrested for her role in the Quit India Movement.

Death

Jyotirmayee was killed by police firing on 22 November 1945 while with a procession of students that was protesting the death of

Rameshwar Banerjee Rameshwar Banerjee ( bn, রামেশ্বর বন্দ্যোপাধ্যায়; 8 February 1925 – 21 November 1945) was a revolutionary and martyr of the Indian independence movement. He participated in the Quit India Movement ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gangopadhyay, Jyotirmayee 1889 births 1945 deaths Scholars from Kolkata University of Calcutta alumni Indian independence activists from Bengal Indian National Congress (Organisation) politicians Politicians from Kolkata Women in West Bengal politics 20th-century Indian women politicians 20th-century Indian politicians 19th-century Indian women 19th-century Indian people 20th-century Indian educational theorists 20th-century Indian women educational theorists Women scientists from West Bengal 20th-century Indian women scientists Women educators from West Bengal 20th-century Indian women educators 20th-century Indian educators Indian independence activists from West Bengal