Syed Hossain (also Syud Hossain; 23 June 1888 – 26 February 1949) was an Indian journalist, an

Indian independence activist The Indian independence movement consisted of efforts by individuals and organizations from a wide spectrum of society to obtain political independence from the British, French and Portuguese rule through the use of many methods. This is a li ...

, and the first Indian ambassador to Egypt in the

Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a pr ...

administration.

Early life

Syed Hossain was born in

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

in 1888. His father, Nawab Syed Mohammad Azad Khan Bahadur (1850–1915), was the Inspector-General of Registration, Bengal. His great-great-grandfather was Mir Syed Ashraf Ali Khan (d. 1829). Syed Hossain's mother was the daughter of

Nawab Abdul Latif Nawab Bahadur Qazi Abdul Latif (1828 – 10 July 1893) was a Bengali Muslim aristocrat, educator and social worker. His title, ''Nawab'' was awarded by the British in 1880. He was one of the first Muslims in 19th-century India to embrace the id ...

, a social reformer of

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

. Sher-e-Bangla A. K. Fazlul Huq (1873–1962) and Sir Hassan Suhrawardy (1888–1946), were his brother-in-laws. Hossain passed his

Entrance Examination In education, an entrance examination or admission examination is an examination that educational institutions conduct to select prospective students. It may be held at any stage of education, from primary to tertiary, even though it is typica ...

in 1904 and F.A. in 1906 from the

Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College (, lit. "Science School for the Muslims of India") was founded in 1875 by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, initially as a primary school, with the intention of turning it to a college level institution. It was inspired by t ...

Aligarh Aligarh (; formerly known as Koil) is a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Aligarh district and lies northwest of state capital Lucknow and approximately southeast of the capital, New Delhi. ...

. He then joined the

Bengal Civil Service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 300 million p ...

as a Sub-Deputy Collector in Calcutta but he soon went to England to pursue further education in 1909.

Career

Hossain returned to India in 1916 and started his journalism career early in life at

Bombay Chronicle ''The Bombay Chronicle'' was an English-language newspaper, published from Mumbai (then Bombay), started in 1910 by Sir Pherozeshah Mehta (1845–1915), a prominent lawyer, who later became the president of the Indian National Congress ...

and later joined the

Motilal Nehru Motilal Nehru (6 May 1861 – 6 February 1931) was an Indian lawyer, activist, and politician affiliated with the Indian National Congress. He served as the Congress President twice, from 1919 to 1920 and from 1928 to 1929. He was a patriarch ...

's nationalist newspaper, ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' where he soon became the editor. He was also active part of independence movement. Hossain was belonged to

Annie Besant Annie Besant (; Wood; 1 October 1847 – 20 September 1933) was an English socialist, Theosophy (Blavatskian), theosophist, freemason, women's rights and Home Rule activist, educationist and campaigner for Indian nationalism. She was an arden ...

's Home Rule League and the

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

. He was chosen by Besant to travel to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and advocate for "

Home Rule Home rule is the government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governan ...

" for India; however, the journey was cut short when Hossain was arrested and subsequently deported back to India. Hossain represented India at the

Paris Peace Conference Agreements and declarations resulting from meetings in Paris include: Listed by name Paris Accords may refer to: * Paris Accords, the agreements reached at the end of the London and Paris Conferences in 1954 concerning the post-war status of Germ ...

in 1920 for the Near Eastern Peace settlement. He relocated to London in 1920, where he briefly served as editor of the nationalist newspaper ''India''. In October 1921, Hossain departed from London and relocated to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. He spent the years 1921–1946 in the US. He first wrote a lot and travelled the US giving talks about India's freedom demands for two years. Then, from 1924 until 1928, he served as editor of ''The New Orient'', a publication that aimed to bring East and West cultures closer together. Gandhiji,

Einstein Albert Einstein (14 March 187918 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is best known for developing the theory of relativity. Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics. His mass–energy equivalence f ...

, Horniman,

Kahlil Gibran Gibran Khalil Gibran (January 6, 1883 – April 10, 1931), usually referred to in English as Kahlil Gibran, was a Lebanese-American writer, poet and Visual arts, visual artist; he was also considered a philosopher, although he himself reject ...

Bertrand Russell Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, and public intellectual. He had influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, and various areas of analytic ...

, HG Wells,

Sarojini Naidu Sarojini Naidu (Birth name, née Chattopadhyay) (; 13 February 1879 – 2 March 1949) was an Indian political activist and poet who served as the first Governor of Uttar Pradesh, Governor of United Provinces, after Independence Day (India), Indi ...

, and CF Andrews all contributed to the issues he edited. In the 1930s, he moved to California. He served as a lecturer at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

's Department of History as a visiting faculty lecturer. He taught two courses entitled "India's Civilization" and "Islamic Civilization" in the summer of 1934. The university later conferred on him an

honorary doctorate degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

. When Hossain left the United States for India in 1946, a farewell dinner was organized for him at the Ceylon India Inn in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

where the guests included Ragini Devi, Habib Rahman, and

Indrani Rahman Indrani Rahman (19 September 1930, Chennai – 5 February 1999, New York City) was an Indian classical dancer of Bharata Natyam, Kuchipudi, Kathakali, Odissi dance, Odissi and the country's first beauty pageant titleholder. she popularised in ...

. He had ties to Nehru and was very committed to the cause of Indian independence later in 1946. After his return to India, he was chosen to serve as

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

's first

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

. Hossain wrote ''"Echoes from Old Dacca"'', published in May 1909 and ''"Gandhi: The Saint as Statesman"'' in 1937.

Personal life

During his time in

Allahabad Prayagraj (, ; ISO 15919, ISO: ), formerly and colloquially known as Allahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi, Varanasi (Benar ...

, Hossain experienced an unfortunate romance that would define his following career and maybe wipe him out of Indian history forever. The 19-year-old Sarup Kumari (later

Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit Vijay Lakshmi Pandit (''née'' Swarup Nehru; 18 August 1900 – 1 December 1990) was an Indian freedom fighter, diplomat and politician. She served as the 8th President of the United Nations General Assembly from 1953 to 1954, the first woman a ...

), the daughter of

, and Hossain, who was 12 years her senior, fell in love, eloped, and were married according to Muslim customs. The couple was compelled to dissolve their marriage due to the influence of the bride's family. Hossain was hastily transferred to the UK, where he was supposed to travel to London to advocate for the

Khilafat movement The Khilafat movement (1919–22) was a political campaign launched by Indian Muslims in British India over British policy against Turkey and the planned dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire after World War I by Allied forces. Leaders particip ...

, while Sarup Kumari was assigned to spend six months at

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 ...

Death

He has been buried in Al-Arafa in Cairo. He was then one of the only Indians who was buried there. This Al-Arafah is also known as City Of The Dead.

Works

* ''Gandhi, the Saint as Statesman'' (1936)

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hossain, Syud 1888 births 1949 deaths Bengali Muslims Bengali writers 20th-century Bengalis Bengali activists Indian people of Arab descent Ambassadors of India to Egypt Indian male journalists 20th-century Indian journalists Gandhians Journalists from West Bengal Indian editors Indian newspaper journalists Indian newspaper editors 20th-century Indian essayists Indian columnists Indian political journalists Indian activists Nehru–Gandhi family