Mirza Nurul Huda (1 August 1919 – 22 December 1991) was an economist and academic who served as the 3rd

Vice President of Bangladesh The Vice President of Bangladesh was the second highest constitutional office in Bangladesh when the country was governed under a presidential system. The vice-president was the first person in the presidential line of succession, in the event o ...

. He served as the governor of East Pakistan and the finance minister of Bangladesh.

Early life

Huda was born in Jangalia village,

Tangail Tangail (, ) is a city of Tangail District in central Bangladesh. A significant city in Bangladesh, Tangail lies on the bank of the Louhajang River, northwest of Dhaka, the nation's capital. Etymology ''Tangail'' originates from the Beng ...

, British India (now

Delduar Upazila Delduar () is an upazila of Tangail District in the Division of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Geography Delduar is located at . It has 48,227 households and total area 184.54 km2. Demographics According to the 2011 Census of Bangladesh, Delduar Upaz ...

, Bangladesh) on 1 August 1919. He studied at the Bindubashini High School in Tangail. He completed his bachelor's and master's from the

University of Dhaka The University of Dhaka (), also known as Dhaka University (DU), is a public university, public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Established in 1921, it is the oldest active university in the country. The University of Dhaka w ...

and graduated in 1940 and 1941 respectively. In 1949, he completed his Ph.D. in agricultural economics from

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

. The same year he joined the economics faculty at the University of Dhaka. In late 1952, the

Radio Pakistan The Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (); also known as ''Radio Pakistan'', serves as the national public broadcaster for radio in Pakistan. Although some local stations predate its founding, it is the oldest existing broadcasting network in P ...

, Dhaka had arranged debates with Huda as the moderator. He went to London for a year as a Nuffield Fellow in 1955.

Career

From 1962 to 1965, he was the member of the planning commission of Pakistan. He protested against the economic discrimination of East Pakistan. He was the Ministry of Planning and Finance of East Pakistan from 1965 to 1969. On 23 March 1969, he replaced Abdul Monem Khan as the governor of East Pakistan but he had to resign from the position a day after upon the declaration of martial law in Pakistan by

Yahya Khan Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan (4 February 191710 August 1980) was a Pakistani army officer who served as the third president of Pakistan from 1969 to 1971. He also served as the fifth Commander-in-Chief, Pakistan, commander-in-chief of the Pakistan ...

. He went back to his teaching profession and in 1969, he was made the chairman of the economics department of the University of Dhaka. Huda was appointed a member of the council of advisers of government of Bangladesh on 26 November 1975 and held the charge of the ministries of agriculture, commerce, finance, industries and planning. In 1979, President

Ziaur Rahman Ziaur Rahman (19 January 193630 May 1981) was a Bangladeshi military officer and politician who served as the sixth president of Bangladesh from 1977 until Assassination of Ziaur Rahman, his assassination in 1981. One of the leading figures of t ...

appointed him the minister of finance of Bangladesh. He was made vice president by Justice Abdus Sattar on 24 November 1981 and served until 23 March 1982.

Works

Huda had about twenty research publications to his credit. He edited the book titled "The Test of Time: My Life and Days" written by

Maulvi Tamizuddin Khan Maulvi Tamizuddin Khan (M. T. Khan; March 1889 – 19 August 1963) was the Speaker of Pakistan's Constituent Assembly from 1948 to 1954 and National Assembly of Pakistan between 1962 and 1963. Early life Khan was born in March 1889 to the Benga ...

Personal life and death

Huda was married to Kulsum Huda, a daughter of Speaker of Pakistan's National Assembly

. Kulsum was one of the founders and vice chancellors of

Central Women's University Central Women's University (CWU) is one of the first private universities in Bangladesh, established in 1993. It was the first university in Bangladesh established exclusively for the purpose of female education. Beggzadi Mahmuda Nasir served ...

. Their daughter Simeen Mahmud (d. 2018) was a demographer at the

Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies The Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) () is an autonomous multi-disciplinary public research organization that conducts policy research on development issues for Bangladesh. Supported by the Government of Bangladesh, BIDS funct ...

. Simeen was married to the economist Wahiduddin Mahmud. Their eldest son Mirza Najmul Huda is an economist. Another daughter is Zareen Huda Ahmed. Huda died on 22 December 1991 in

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

, Bangladesh.

References

1919 births 1991 deaths People from Tangail District Cornell University alumni Presidents of Bangladesh Vice presidents of Bangladesh Ministers of finance of Bangladesh University of Dhaka alumni Academic staff of the University of Dhaka Governors of East Pakistan Bangladesh Nationalist Party politicians Pakistani expatriates in the United States 20th-century Bengalis Advisers of Sayem ministry {{BangladeshNationalistParty-politician-stub