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{{Short description|Indian physician and industrialist}}
{{Distinguish|Narendranath Dutta}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2025}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2025}}
{{Infobox people
| name = Narendra Nath Dutta
| native_name = নরেন্দ্রনাথ দত্ত
| native_name_lang = bn
| image =
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date |1884|09|21|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Comilla Division|Tippera District]], Bengal Presidency, British India
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1949|4|06|1884|09|21|df=y}}
| death_place = Calcutta, [[West Bengal]], Dominion of India
| education = [[Bachelor of Medicine]]
| alma_mater = [[Calcutta Medical College]]
| occupation ={{Flat list|*industrialist
*physician
*farmer
*businessman}}
| years_active = 1925–1949
| organization = [[Bengal Immunity]]
| known_for = First commercial production of [[antibody]] in the [[Indian subcontinent]]
| relatives = {{unbulleted list | [[Kamini Kumar Dutta]] (brother) }}
| awards =
| signature =
| signature_alt =
| signature_size =
| module = {{Infobox military person
| embed = yes
| allegiance = [[British Empire]]
| branch =[[British Indian Army]]
| serviceyears= 1916–1925
| rank = [[Captain (armed forces)|Captain]]
| servicenumber =
| unit = [[Bengali Regiment|49th Bengali Regiment]]
| commands =
| battles = [[World War I]]
| awards =
}}
}}
'''Narendra Nath Dutta''' (21 September 1884 – 6 April 1949) was an Indian Bengali physician and industrialist. He was also known as '''Captain Naren Dutta''' and '''N. N. Dutta'''.<ref name=চ/><ref name=য/><ref name=অ/>

==Early life==
On 21 September 1884,<ref name=a/> Narendra Nath Dutta was born into a poor family in the village of Sreekail in the [[Comilla Division|Tippera district]] of the [[Bengal Presidency]], British India (now located in [[Muradnagar Upazila]], [[Comilla District]], Bangladesh). His father was Krishna Kumar Dutta, a teacher at [[Chittagong Government High School]], and his mother was Sharwani Sundari Devi.<ref name=o/><ref name=স>{{cite book|title=সংসদ বাঙালী চরিতাভিধান|lang=bn|page=244|publisher=Sahitya Sansad|year=1976}}</ref> After his mother died in 1890–1891, Narendra and one of his brothers were left with their aunt, while their father moved to [[Chittagong]] with his other two sons.<ref name=o/> He studied at Dhanpatikhola Primary School and later passed his secondary education from [[Comilla Zilla School]] in 1906. Two years later, he completed his higher secondary education from [[Comilla Victoria College]].<ref name=b/> During this time, he supported his studies by working as a farm laborer, a grocery shop assistant, and a vegetable hawker.<ref name=চ>{{cite book|title=বাংলা একাডেমী চরিতাভিধান|lang=bn|orig-year=1985|year=2011|pages=284–285|publisher=[[Bangla Academy]]|isbn=978-9840751389}}</ref> He then enrolled in [[Calcutta Medical College]] and was able to earn his medical degree in 1915 with financial help from Colonel John Telfer Calvert, principal of Calcutta Medical College, and by working as a porter at the Kidderpore Dock.<ref name=b>{{Cite Banglapedia|article=Datta, Narendra Nath|author=Golam Kibria Bhuiyan}}</ref>

==Career==
After earning his medical degree, Narendra received a position as a government house surgeon at the [[IPGMER and SSKM Hospital|Presidency General Hospital]] through the recommendation of principal Calvert.<ref name=a/><ref name=o/> Following Calvert’s advice, he joined the [[British Indian Army]] in 1916 as part of the Indian Emergency War Service and participated in [[World War I]].<ref name=b/><ref name=স/> During the war, he served in Mesopotamia, overseeing field service operations and an Assyrian refugee camp.<ref name=অ/> He was promoted to the rank of captain and served as chief medical officer before retiring in 1925.<ref name=b/><ref name=স/> After retirement, he leased around 26.5 acres of land in [[Nadia district]] where he started a fruit orchard and fish farming business.<ref name=a/> At the request of [[Bidhan Chandra Roy]], one of the founders of a pharmaceutical company named [[Bengal Immunity]], he took over the company’s operations and served as its Executive Director.<ref name=a/> At the time he assumed leadership, the company was in a dire condition.<ref name=চ/> Before 1946, he had turned the company into a profitable and expanding enterprise. He also founded Indian Trawler Limited to manufacture advanced deep-sea fishing trawlers. In addition, he established Radical Insurance Limited, Indian Research Institute, Bharati Printing and Publishing, and Navashakti Newspapers Company.<ref name=a>{{cite news|url=https://www.anandabazar.com/west-bengal/captain-narendranath-dutta-was-pioneer-in-the-field-of-serum-research-dgtl-1.1256055?slide=15|title=পরাধীন ভারতে বাণিজ্যিক ভাবে সিরাম বাজারে এনে বাজিমাত করেন এই অন্য নরেন্দ্রনাথ দত্ত|lang=bn|date=7 January 2021|newspaper=[[Anandabazar Patrika]]}}</ref>

==Activism and politics==
Narendra had associations with members of the revolutionary secret organization [[Jugantar]], which led to obstacles from the government when he tried to join the British Indian Army. He was a supporter of [[Subhas Chandra Bose]] and a collaborator of the [[Indian National Congress]] (INC).<ref name=o/> He provided medical treatment to injured freedom fighters and politicians from the INC.<ref name=য/> In 1930, he hid an individual involved in the [[Chittagong armoury raid]] from law enforcement authorities in his warehouse located in [[Baranagar]], [[24 Parganas|Twenty-four Parganas district]]. In 1948, after Bidhan Chandra Roy became the chief minister of the [[government of West Bengal]], he invited Narendra to join his cabinet, but Narendra declined the offer.<ref name=o/>

==Family life==
Narendra Nath Dutta, a lifelong bachelor, had three siblings. His eldest brother, [[Kamini Kumar Dutta]], was a lawyer in Tippera District and served as the law minister of Pakistan. His youngest brother, Surendra Nath Dutta, joined the [[Indian Civil Service]] and worked in the government’s forest department, while his middle brother, Debendra Nath Dutta, was a steel businessman.<ref name=o>{{cite news|url=https://ournewsbd.net/%E0%A6%95%E0%A7%81%E0%A6%AE%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%B2%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B2%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B0-%E0%A6%97%E0%A6%B0%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AC-%E0%A6%95%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AF%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%AA%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%9F%E0%A7%87/|title=কুমিল্লার গর্ব: ক্যাপ্টেন নরেন্দ্রনাথ দত্ত ও কুমিল্লার শ্রীকাইল সরকারী কলেজ|lang=bn|first=Mominul Islam|last=Molla|date=26 June 2021|work=Our News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220310163253/https://ournewsbd.net/%E0%A6%95%E0%A7%81%E0%A6%AE%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%B2%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B2%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B0-%E0%A6%97%E0%A6%B0%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AC-%E0%A6%95%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AF%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%AA%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%9F%E0%A7%87/|archive-date=10 March 2022|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Death and legacy==
Narendra Nath Dutta died of a heart attack on 6 April 1949 at his residence at 153 Dharmatala Street (now Lenin Sarani) in [[Calcutta]], the capital of [[West Bengal]], [[Dominion of India]], after returning from his birthplace on 26 March 1949.<ref name=অ>{{cite news|title=CAPT. N. N. DUTTA DEAD|page=1|date=7 April 1949|newspaper=[[Amrita Bazar Patrika]]}}</ref><ref name=o/> Through his efforts, Bengal Immunity played a vital role in marketing essential medicines at low cost and in the development of vaccines.<ref name=a/> In 1949, the government of West Bengal accused Dutta of tax evasion amounting to nearly {{INR|5.8 million}} over eight years, which he admitted. After his death, his heirs appealed the tax case and paid approximately {{INR|5.2 million}} following a 1960 verdict.<ref name=o/> He was a patron of the ''[[Jugantar Patrika]]'' and served as the president of its board of directors until his death.<ref name=য>{{cite news|title=পরলোকে ক্যাপ্টেন নরেন্দ্রনাথ দত্ত|lang=bn|page=1, 5|date=7 April 1949|newspaper=[[Jugantar Patrika]]}}</ref> Eight years before his death, he established a college named Bani Pith (present-day Sreekail Government College) in his birthplace. He also founded the Krishna Kumar Dutta Memorial Trust.<ref name=b/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.risingbd.com/education-news/49833|title=৭৪ বছরেও জাতীয়করণ হয়নি শ্রীকাইল কলেজ|lang=bn|date=16 May 2014|website=RisingBD.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250505170239/https://www.risingbd.com/education-news/49833|archive-date=5 May 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1955, the school he established in Baranagar was renamed Baranagar Narendra Nath Vidya Mandir in his honor.<ref name=o/> Two books have been published about his life: ''Captain Narendranather Jiban-Katha'' by Amulyaratan Chakraborty, and ''Ekjon Captain Dutter Tin Shatabdir Galpo'' edited by Joynal Hossain.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.prothomalo.com/bangladesh/%E0%A6%A8%E0%A6%B0%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%A8%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%A6%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%A8%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%A5%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%B0-%E0%A6%9C%E0%A7%80%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%A8%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%A4%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%B9%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B8-%E0%A6%AF%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%A8-%E0%A6%8F%E0%A6%95-%E0%A6%B0%E0%A7%82%E0%A6%AA%E0%A6%95%E0%A6%A5%E0%A6%BE|title=নরেন্দ্রনাথের জীবনেতিহাস যেন এক রূপকথা|lang=bn|date=10 April 2016|newspaper=[[Prothom Alo]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250505170458/https://www.prothomalo.com/bangladesh/%E0%A6%A8%E0%A6%B0%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%A8%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%A6%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%A8%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%A5%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%B0-%E0%A6%9C%E0%A7%80%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%A8%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%A4%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%B9%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B8-%E0%A6%AF%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%A8-%E0%A6%8F%E0%A6%95-%E0%A6%B0%E0%A7%82%E0%A6%AA%E0%A6%95%E0%A6%A5%E0%A6%BE|archive-date=5 May 2025|url-status=live}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dutta, Narendra Nath}}
[[Category:1884 births]]
[[Category:1949 deaths]]
[[Category:Medical doctors from Kolkata]]
[[Category:Indian industrialists]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian farmers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian philanthropists]]
[[Category:Indian independence activists from Bengal]]
[[Category:Indian Army personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:Bengali Hindus]]
[[Category:People from Muradnagar Upazila]]
[[Category:Comilla Victoria Government College alumni]]
[[Category:Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata alumni]]

Narendra Nath Dutta - Revision history

Brigette13M at 21:19, 10 February 2026