Shamsunnahar Mahmud (c. 1908 — April 10, 1964) was a writer, politician and educator in

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

during the early 20th century. She was a leader of the women's rights movement in Bengal pioneered by

Begum Rokeya Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain") is the commonly used spelling of Rokeya's full married name, Rokeya herself is never seen to use her full married name in this English spelling. In much of her correspondence in English, she used just her initials: � ...

. Shamsunnahar Hall of the University of Dhaka was named after her.

Early life and education

Mahmud was born in 1908 in North Guthuma village, in what is now

Parshuram Upazila Parshuram ( bn, পরশুরাম) is an upazila of Feni District in the Division of Chittagong Chittagong ( /ˈtʃɪt əˌɡɒŋ/ ''chit-uh-gong''; ctg, চিটাং; bn, চিটাগং), officially Chattogram ( bn, চট� ...

Feni District Feni is a district located in southeastern Bangladesh. It was a part of the Greater Noakhali, Comilla, Chittagong and Tripura. , the district's estimated population stood at 1,437,371, making it the ninth-most populous district in Chittagong Divis ...

, Bangladesh. Her father, Mohammad Nurullah, was a munsiff. Khan Bahadur Abdul Aziz was her grandfather. Her brother,

Habibullah Bahar Chowdhury Habibullah Bahar Chowdhury (1906 – 15 April 1966) was a politician, journalist, sportsman and writer from erstwhile East Bengal, now Bangladesh, who served in the political spheres of British India and Pakistan. Early life and education Chow ...

was a politician. Mahmud started her studies at

Dr. Khastagir Government Girls' School Dr. Khastagir Government Girls' High School is a governmental secondary school in Chattogram, Bangladesh. It is near Jamal Khan, in the central part of the city. It was established by Annadacharan Khastagir. History The school celebrated 100 ...

Chittagong Chittagong ( /ˈtʃɪt əˌɡɒŋ/ ''chit-uh-gong''; ctg, চিটাং; bn, চিটাগং), officially Chattogram ( bn, চট্টগ্রাম), is the second-largest city in Bangladesh after Dhaka and third largest city in B ...

, and matriculated in 1926 as a private candidate. She received her I.A. in 1928 and B.A. in 1932 at the Diocesan College of

Calcutta 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, comm ...

. In 1942, she completed her

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. ...

Bengali literature Bengali literature ( bn, বাংলা সাহিত্য, Bangla Sahityô) denotes the body of writings in the Bengali language and which covers Old Bengali, Middle- Bengali and Modern Bengali with the changes through the passage of time ...

. After her studies she joined the women's rights movement led by

Career

Mahmud started her career as a teacher of Bengali literature at

Lady Brabourne College Lady Brabourne College (LBC) is an institution for women's education in Kolkata, India. The college admits undergraduates and post-graduates, and awards degrees from the University of Calcutta. It is a state government administered college and i ...

. She worked as secretary to the Nikhil Banga Muslim Mahila Samity (All Bengal Muslim Women's Society). She visited Turkey and the Middle East as a representative of

East Pakistan East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Scheme, One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India ...

in 1952. She was elected member of the National Assembly in 1962. In 1961, she initiated the establishment of "The Centre for the Rehabilitation of Disabled Children". She led a delegation to the

International Council of Women The International Council of Women (ICW) is a women's rights organization working across national boundaries for the common cause of advocating human rights for women. In March and April 1888, women leaders came together in Washington, D.C., wit ...

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

and joined the International Friendship Organization as Asia's regional director.

Personal life

She married Wahiduddin Mahmud in 1927. He was the Surgeon General of then East Pakistan. Together they had two sons,

Mamun Mahmud Mamun Mahmud, born Salauddin Mahmud, (17 November 1928 – 26 March 1971) was a police officer and a martyr of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War. Early life Mahmud was born on 17 November 1928 in Chittagong, East Bengal, British India. His moth ...

, a martyred freedom fighter during the 1971 Liberation war of Bangladesh, and Mainuddin Mahmud, a cricketer, and sports enthusiast.

Works

Mahmud's first poem was published in a juvenile monthly magazine ''"Angur"''. She edited the women's sections of the magazines ''"Nauroj"''and ''"Atmashakti"''. Together with her brother, Habibullah, she edited the magazine Bulbul (1933) which was published from Kolkata. She wrote books which included ''Punyamayi'' (1925), ''Phulbagicha'' (1935), ''Begum Mahal'' (1936), ''Roquia Jibani'' (1937; The first biography of Begum Rokeya), ''Shishur Shiksa'' (1939), ''Amar Dekha Turaska'' (1956) and ''Nazrulke Jeman Dekhechhi '' (1958).

Legacy

After Mahmud's death, a women's hall of the

University of Dhaka The University of Dhaka (also known as Dhaka University, or DU) is a public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is the oldest university in Bangladesh. The university opened its doors to students on July 1st 1921. Currently i ...

was named Shamsunnahar Hall. She was awarded

Independence Day Award The Independence Day Award ( bn, স্বাধীনতা পদক), also termed Independence Award ( bn, স্বাধীনতা পুরস্কার), Swadhinata Padak, and Swadhinata Puroskar, is the highest state award given by t ...

in 1981 by the

Government of Bangladesh The Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh ( bn, গণপ্রজাতন্ত্রী বাংলাদেশ সরকার — ) is the central executive government of Bangladesh. The government was constituted by the Co ...

for her contribution to social work.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahmud, Shamsunnahar 1900s births 1964 deaths Bengali writers Indian women's rights activists Recipients of the Independence Day Award People from Feni District Recipients of Begum Rokeya Padak Honorary Fellows of Bangla Academy Women members of the Jatiya Sangsad 20th-century Bangladeshi women politicians