Radharaman Mitra (23 February 1897 – 7 February 1992) was an Indian revolutionary involved with

Meerut Conspiracy Case The Meerut Conspiracy Case was a controversial court case that was initiated in British Raj in March 1929 and decided in 1933. Several trade unionists, including three Englishmen, were arrested for organizing an Indian railway strike. The Briti ...

and Bengali writer. In 1981, he received

Sahitya Akademi Award The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the ...

for his book ''Kalikata Darpan''.

Early life

Mitra was born in

Shyambazar Shyambazar is a neighbourhood of North Kolkata, in Kolkata district in the Indian state of West Bengal. The area, under Shyampukur police station of Kolkata Police, has been, along with neighbouring Bagbazar, the citadel of the Bengali aristoc ...

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

in a

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

lower middle class family. He passed Matriculation examination from

Hindu School, Kolkata Hindu School is a state government-administered school in Kolkata (Calcutta), India. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest modern educational institution in Asia (then known as ''Hindu College''). The institution played a key role during Bengal R ...

in 1913 and passed Intermediate with Gold medal in 1915. In 1917 he completed his graduation from St. Paul's Cathedral Mission College.

Revolutionary activities

Mitra joined in the

Non-cooperation movement Non-cooperation movement may refer to: * Non-cooperation movement (1919–1922), during the Indian independence movement, led by Mahatma Gandhi against British rule * Non-cooperation movement (1971), a movement in East Pakistan * Non-cooperatio ...

while taking his Master of Arts degree in the

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...

. He went to

Etawah Etawah (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''Iṭāvā''), also known as Ishtikapuri, is a city situated on the banks of Yamuna River in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Etawa ...

with his friend another revolutionary Bankim Mukherjee to organise grass route people in support of

Gandhism Gandhism is a body of ideas that describes the inspiration, vision, and the life work of Mohandas K. Gandhi. It is particularly associated with his contributions to the idea of nonviolent resistance, sometimes also called civil resistance. The ...

. In 1921 he was arrested and imprisoned in

Naini Naini (also known as Naini Industrial Area) is an industrial township of Prayagraj in Prayagraj district, Uttar Pradesh, India. By the 1950s Naini was established as the chief industrial area of the city. History Naini had a prison, Naini Cen ...

jail for one year. After release Mitra personally met with

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

Sabarmati Ashram Sabarmati Ashram is located in the Sabarmati suburb of Ahmedabad, Gujarat, adjoining the Ashram Road, on the banks of the River Sabarmati, from the town hall. This was one of the many residences of Mahatma Gandhi who lived at Sabarmati (Gujar ...

and worked with him continuously three years. In 1927, he established the Kolkata Corporation Teachers Association while teaching in a School in

. After that he participated in trade union movements, constructed labour organisation in various area of

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

. Police again arrested Mitra in Meerat Conspiracy Case but he was released by order of

Allahabad High Court Allahabad High Court, officially known as High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, is the high court based in the city of Prayagraj, formerly known as Allahabad, that has jurisdiction over the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It was established o ...

. In 1943–1944 Mitra joined in the

Communist Party of India The Communist Party of India (CPI) is a political party in India. The CPI considers the Foundation of the Communist Party of India, December 26, 1925 Cawnpore (Kanpur) conference as its foundation date. Between 1946 and 1951, the CPI led m ...

. He was popular for his

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

intellectualism, literary works and enormous knowledge about history of Calcutta metropolis. He was also a member ''Bharat Soviet Suhrid Samity'' established in 1941. He resigned from the active politics since 1951.

Works

* ''Bangalar Tin Manishi'' * ''Kalikatay Vidyasagar'' * ''Kalikata Darpan (Vol I, II)'' * ''Devid Hare: His life and works'' * ''Radharaman Mitrer Prabandha''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitra, Radharaman 1897 births 1992 deaths Communist Party of India politicians from West Bengal Bengali communists Bengali historians St. Paul's Cathedral Mission College alumni University of Calcutta alumni Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Bengali Writers from Kolkata Prisoners and detainees of British India