https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Bivabati_BoseBivabati Bose - Revision history2026-10-29T02:01:29ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.43.6https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bivabati_Bose&diff=491979&oldid=prevSimoneMarina699: started a stub...2026-03-03T08:04:53Z<p>started a stub...</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Indian social activist and wife of Sarat Chandra Bose}}<br />
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2025}}{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2025}}<br />
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{{Infobox person<br />
| name = Bivabati Bose<br />
| native_name = বিভাবতী বোস<br />
| native_name_lang = bn<br />
| image = Sarat Bose and wife Bivabati in 1921.jpg<br />
| caption = Bivabati Bose (seated) with Sarat Bose<br />
| other_names = Bibhabati Bose<br />
| birth_date = 1896<br />
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1954|06|26|1896}}<br />
| death_place = [[Kolkata]]<br />
| spouse = [[Sarat Chandra Bose]]<br />
}}<br />
<br />
'''Bivabati Bose''' ({{née|'''De'''}}; c. 1896 – 1954) was a [[Gandhian Movement|Gandhian]] social activist and a revolutionary of the [[Indian independence movement]]. She was married to [[Sarat Chandra Bose]], an Indian nationalist leader and barrister, and played significant role in supporting nationalist activities and political engagements of her husband and her brother-in-law, [[Subhas Chandra Bose]].<br />
== Early life and marriage ==<br />
Bivabati De was born in [[Calcutta]] (now Kolkata) in 1896 to Akshay Kumar Dey Biswas and Subala Dey, a prominent family in North Calcutta.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Ghosh |first=Chitra |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_O7NSAAACAAJ |title=Mother of My Heart: The Story of Bivabati Bose |date=2009 |publisher=Thema |isbn=978-81-86017-71-5 |language=en}}</ref> At the age of thirteen in 1909, Bivabati married [[Sarat Chandra Bose]], who was then a budding barrister and later became a prominent figure in the [[Indian National Congress]] and the independence movement.<ref name="Gordon1990">{{cite book |last=Gordon |first=Leonard A. |title=Brothers Against the Raj: A Biography of Indian Nationalists Sarat and Subhas Chandra Bose |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=1990 |isbn=978-0-231-07442-1 |location=New York |pages=31, 50, 400, 647}}</ref> Although she had no formal education, she could read and write Bengali, and late studied English with Sarat.<ref name="Gordon1990" /> Together, they established the Bose family residence at 1 Woodburn Park in Calcutta,<ref>{{Cite news |date=2017-03-04 |title=How Sisir Bose saved Netaji's Elgin Road house |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/how-sisir-bose-saved-netajis-elgin-rd-house/articleshow/57456177.cms |access-date=2025-05-02 |work=The Times of India |issn=0971-8257}}</ref> which became a focal point for political discussions and activities related to the freedom struggle.<ref name="Gordon1990" /><br />
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== Role during the Independence Movement ==<br />
Bivabati Bose managed the large joint family household, providing stability and support amidst the turbulent political careers of Sarat Chandra and Subhas Chandra Bose. Sarat Bose faced repeated arrests and detentions by the British authorities, including periods of imprisonment in the 1930s and internment during [[India in World War II|World War II]] (1941–1945).<ref name="Gordon1990" /> During these times, Bivabati maintained the house as a safe haven and meeting place for nationalists.<ref name="NetajiOrgBio">{{cite web |title=Sarat Chandra Bose |url=http://www.netaji.org/saratbose.php |access-date=1 May 2025 |website=Netaji Research Bureau |quote=Sarat Bose was imprisoned or interned by the British colonial rulers repeatedly... During these long periods, his wife Bibhabati shouldered the heavy burden of managing a large joint family. }}{{Dead link|date=March 2026 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}</ref> She was known for her fortitude and resilience in managing the family's resources and raising their children during prolonged periods of her husband's absence.<ref name="Gordon1990" /><br />
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She shared a close relationship with her brother-in-law, Subhas Chandra Bose.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ghose |first=Chandrachur |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B4LuzgEACAAJ |title=Bose: The Untold Story of an Inconvenient Nationalist |date=2022 |publisher=Penguin Random House |isbn=978-0-670-09600-8 |language=en |quote=The letters to mejobowdidi ''Bivabati'' stand in contrast to the bulk of his other letters, in showing the tender worldly facet of his persona, which largely remained eclipsed by the image that developed in the later years.}}</ref> The family home at Woodburn Park was where Netaji was under house arrest before his escape in January 1941, an event planned within the household with the involvement of family members, including Bivabati's son, [[Sisir Kumar Bose]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Bose |first=Sugata |title=His Majesty's Opponent: Subhas Chandra Bose and India's Struggle against Empire |publisher=The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-674-04754-9 |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |page=179}}</ref><br />
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== Family ==<br />
[[File:Seated_Bibhabati,_Sisir_Kumar,_Anita_and_Sarat_Chandra_with_standing_Roma_Emilie_and_Chitra_in_Vienna,_November_1948.jpg|thumb|Bivabati Bose (seated, from left), Sisir Kumar, Anita and Sarat Chandra with standing Roma Emilie and Chitra in Vienna, November 1948]]<br />
Bivabati and Sarat Chandra Bose had eight children who survived to adulthood:<br />
* Asoke Nath Bose (1915–1994) - Chemical Engineer<br />
* [[Amiya Nath Bose]] (1915–1996) - Barrister, Member of Parliament<ref name="Gordon1990" /><br />
* [[Sisir Kumar Bose]] (1920–2000) - Pediatrician, Member of Legislative Assembly, Founder Director of [[Netaji Research Bureau]]<ref name="Gordon1990" /><br />
* [[Subrata Bose]] (1932–2016) - Electrical Engineer, Member of Parliament<ref>{{cite news |date=21 January 2016 |title=Subrata Bose passes away |url=https://www.thestatesman.com/india/subrata-bose-passes-away-121497.html |access-date=1 May 2025 |newspaper=The Statesman}}</ref><br />
* Mira Roy (b. 1911/12)<ref name="Gordon1990" /><br />
* Gita Biswas (née Bose)<ref name="Gordon1990" /><br />
* Roma Ray Choudhury (née Bose)<ref name="Gordon1990" /><br />
* Chitra Ghosh (1930–2021) - Political Scientist, Professor <ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-01-08 |title=Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's niece Chitra Ghosh passes away |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/books-and-literature/netaji-subhash-chandra-bose-niece-chitra-ghosh-passes-away-7138207/ |access-date=2025-05-02 |website=The Indian Express |language=en |archive-date=21 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220821080333/https://indianexpress.com/article/books-and-literature/netaji-subhash-chandra-bose-niece-chitra-ghosh-passes-away-7138207/ |url-status=live }}</ref><br />
* Shanti Bose (died young)<ref name="Gordon1990" /><br />
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== Later life and legacy ==<br />
After India's independence and the death of Sarat Chandra Bose in 1950, she became directly involved in politics. She contested and won the vacant South Calcutta Assembly seat as a United Left Front candidate.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}} She supported the establishment and activities of the [[Netaji Research Bureau]], founded by her son Sisir Kumar Bose in 1957 at the family home.<ref name="Gordon1990" /> After prolonged illness, Bose died in her family home in Kolkata on 26 June 1954.<br />
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Letters written by Sarat Chandra Bose and Subhas Chandra Bose to Bivabati have been included in many publications.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Prasad |first=Bimal |date=July 1969 |title=India: Correspondence, 1924–32 of Subhas Chandra Bose. Netaji Research Bureau, Calcutta. 1967. 427p. Rs. 17.50 |url=https://doi.org/10.1177/097492846902500322 |journal=India Quarterly: A Journal of International Affairs |volume=25 |issue=3 |pages=281–285 |doi=10.1177/097492846902500322 |issn=0974-9284|url-access=subscription }}</ref> In 2009, her daughter Chitra Ghosh published a memoir titled ''Mother of My Heart: the Story of Bivabati Bose'' on the life of her mother.<ref name=":0" /> <br />
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== References ==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
{{Authority control}}<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bose, Bivabati}}<br />
[[Category:1896 births]]<br />
[[Category:Revolutionaries of Bengal during British Rule]]<br />
[[Category:1954 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:Gandhians]]<br />
[[Category:Women Indian independence activists]]<br />
[[Category:Indian independence activists]]</div>SimoneMarina699