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{{Short description|Indian businessman}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Kundan Lal Gupta
| image = Kundan_Lal.jpg
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| birth_place = Ludhiana, Punjab
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'''Kundan Lal Gupta''' (1893 – 1966) was an Indian businessman, [[freedom fighter]], [[philanthropist]] and founder of [[Kundan Vidya Mandir]], one of the first girls' schools in [[Ludhiana]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://knowledge.anypursuit.org/Kundan+Lal+Gupta|title=Kundan Lal Gupta|website=AnyPursuit Knowledge Network|language=en|access-date=2019-08-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190806085547/https://knowledge.anypursuit.org/Kundan+Lal+Gupta|archive-date=2019-08-06}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/2005/20051019/ldh2.htm|title=The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Ludhiana Stories|website=www.tribuneindia.com|access-date=2019-08-06}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://thehushpost.com/punjab/ludhiana/top-ten-schools-ludhiana-contact-details/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190806085519/https://thehushpost.com/punjab/ludhiana/top-ten-schools-ludhiana-contact-details/|url-status=usurped|archive-date=August 6, 2019|title=Top Ten Schools in Ludhiana and their Contact Details|last=bansalmanav|date=2018-12-29|website=The Hush Post|language=en-US|access-date=2019-08-06}}</ref>

==Early life==
Kundan Lal was born in the year 1893 in [[Ludhiana, Punjab, India|Ludhiana, Punjab]], to a Patwari father. He completed his BSc degree from Government College, [[Punjab University, Lahore]], in pre-partition India. He was directly admitted to the Provincial Civil Service in 1915 and appointed as a Sub Divisional Magistrate in [[Nagpur]]. In 1920, he met [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] during the [[Non-cooperation movement (1919–22)|non-cooperation movement]] launched by the [[Congress Party (India)|Congress Party]]. Resigning from PCS he returned to Ludhiana and started a number of Business ventures including the Kundan Wood Factory.

==Freedom Fighter==
In 1926 Kundan Lal joined the [[Congress Party (India)|Congress Party]] to support [[Indian independence movement|Indian independence]] and hosted the landmark [[All India States People Conference]] Ludhiana, in February 1939, better known as the “Ludhiana Session” which was attended by Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru and P. Sitaramayya.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jXpzWlPpE1cC&dq=ludhiana+session+all+india+states+peoples+conference&pg=PA137|title=Sovereignty, Power, Control: Politics in the States of Western India, 1916-1947|last=McLeod|first=John|date=1999|publisher=BRILL|isbn=9789004113435|language=en}}</ref>

==Philanthropy==
With India's independence in 1947, Kundan Lal turned his attention to educating a generation of Indians. He started a charitable trust, Shri Kundan Lal Trust, and donated most of his assets to it.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/chandigarh/kvm-students-win-hearts-with-musical-power/story-XgtmDZgqtaLeWbQk2BJEzL.html|title=KVM students win hearts with musical power|date=2019-07-29|website=Hindustan Times|language=en|access-date=2019-08-06}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.holocaustcenter.org/visit/library-archive/oral-history-department/gupta-vijya-and-vinay/|title=Gupta, Vijya and Vinay|website=Holocaust Memorial Center|language=en-US|access-date=2019-08-06}}</ref> He started [[Kundan Vidya Mandir]] in 1941, initially as a girls-only school, and converted it to a co-educational school around 1958. Kundan Vidya Mandir now boasts of 2 Campuses in Ludhiana and Kundan International School in Chandigarh.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ludhiana/KVM-holds-programme-in-memory-of-founder/articleshow/10397264.cms|title=KVM holds programme in memory of founder|date=October 18, 2011|website=The Times of India|language=en|access-date=2019-08-06}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ajr.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/2014_June.pdf|title=From Austria to Australia via India|last=|first=|date=|website=|access-date=}}</ref>

==Humanitarian==
On a trip to [[Vienna, Austria]], for a medical procedure in 1938 he saw the plight of [[Jews]] under [[Hitler|Hitler's]] tyranny and helped rescue 14 Jews out of Austria.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://jewishstandard.timesofisrael.com/from-the-reich-to-the-raj/|title=From the Reich to the Raj|last=Viswanath|first=Meylekh|website=jewishstandard.timesofisrael.com|language=en-US|access-date=2019-08-08}}</ref><ref name="tilak"/> Grandson Vinay Gupta has written a book about his grandfather's humanitarian work.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Gupta |first=Oliver Das |date=2026-01-27 |title=(S+) Wie ein Inder österreichische Juden vor dem Holocaust rettete |url=https://www.spiegel.de/ausland/holocaust-wie-ein-inder-juden-aus-wien-rettete-a-e26cae1e-9dbe-4dc1-945e-d9e3be6084af |access-date=2026-02-14 |work=Der Spiegel |language=de |issn=2195-1349}}</ref>

==Personal life==
He had five children with his wife, Saraswati. He died in 1966 at the age of 73 from a heart attack.<ref name="tilak">{{cite news |last1=Tilak |first1=Sudha |title=When an unsung Indian helped Austrian Jews escape the Nazis |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crl0r5wrkexo |access-date=13 July 2025 |work=www.bbc.com |date=12 July 2025}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Indian rebels]]
[[Category:1893 births]]
[[Category:1966 deaths]]

Kundan Lal Gupta - Revision history

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