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{{Infobox person
{{Infobox person
| name        =Barun De
| name        =Barun Dey
| image      =
| image      =
| caption    =
| caption    =
| birth_date = 30 October 1932
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1932|10|30}}
| birth_place=[[Calcutta]], [[Bengal]]
| birth_place=[[Calcutta]], [[Bengal]], [[British India]]
| death_date = 16 July 2013 (aged 80)
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2013|07|16|1932|10|30}}({{lang-bn|৮১}})
| death_place = [[Calcutta]], [[West Bengal]]
| death_place = [[Kolkata]], [[West Bengal]], [[India]]
| occupation    =Historian
| occupation    =Historian
| years active =1961-2001
| years active =1961-2001
|spouse = Romabai De (nee Dutta Gupta)
|spouse = Romabai De ({{lang-bn| রমাবাঈ দে}}) (nee Datta Gupta) ({{lang-bn|দত্তগুপ্ত}})
|children = 2
}}
}}


'''Barun De''' (বরুণ দে) (30 October 1932 – 16 July 2013) was an Indian historian and institution builder.
'''Barun Kumar Dey''' ({{lang-bn|'''বরুণ কুমার দে (দেব সরকার)'''}}) (30 October, 1932 – 16 July, 2013) ({{lang-bn|১৩ কার্তিক, ১৩৩৯ - ৩১ আষাঢ়, ১৪২০}}) was an Indian historian and institution builder.


==Early life and education==
==Early life and education==
De, a member of a Kayastha-Brahmo family of Calcutta<ref name="telegraphindia">{{cite news|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130718/jsp/calcutta/story_17126553.jsp |title=Historian Barun De dead |date=18 July 2013 |accessdate=2016-08-15}}</ref> was the son of [[Draft: Basanta Kumar De|Basanta Kumar De]]<ref name="frontline1">[http://www.frontline.in/other/obituary/historian-and-administrator/article4995294.ece "Historian and Administrator" - Aniruddha Ray] Retrieved 2015-03-03</ref><ref name="liveslessforgotten">[http://rajsaday.com/?p=1950 Lives Less Forgotten: Basanta Kumar De]</ref> and Pramila De (nee Gupta). His grandfather was [[Brajendranath De]], ICS.<ref name="vmh">[http://www.victoriamemorial-cal.org/official_info/victoria_newsletter_feb2014.pdf Sabyasachi Bhattacharya, 'Obituary' in the ''Victoria Memorial Newsletter'', 2014]</ref> He studied at [[St. Xavier's Collegiate School]], [[Calcutta]]. He completed his I.A. & B.A. (Honours) in History at [[Presidency College, Calcutta]], where he was a student of [[Susobhan Sarkar|Susobhan Chandra Sarkar]]. He was a debate secretary of the student's union of the college.
Dey was a member of a Bengali (বাঙালী) Hindu (হিন্দু) Uttar Rarhi Kayastha (উত্তর রার্হি কায়স্থ)-Brahmo (ব্রাহ্ম) family of Calcutta.<ref name="telegraphindia">{{cite news|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130718/jsp/calcutta/story_17126553.jsp |title=Historian Barun De dead |date=18 July 2013 |accessdate=2016-08-15}}</ref><ref name="HT20130718">{{cite news|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/kolkata/Historian-Barun-De-passes-away/Article-1094187.aspx |date=18 July 2013 |title=Historian Barun Dey passes away |publisher=Hindustan Times |accessdate=4 October 2013 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131010131755/http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/kolkata/Historian-Barun-De-passes-away/Article-1094187.aspx |archivedate=10 October 2013 }}</ref> He was the son of [[Draft: Basanta Kumar De|Basanta Kumar Dey]], a senior of the Bengal Nagpur Railways<ref name="frontline1">[http://www.frontline.in/other/obituary/historian-and-administrator/article4995294.ece "Historian and Administrator" - Aniruddha Ray] Retrieved 2015-03-03</ref> and Pramila Dey (nee Gupta). His paternal grandfather was the Persianist and civil servant, [[Brajendranath De|Brajendranath Dey]], who edited and translated Nizamuddin Ahmed's ''Tabaqat-i-Akbari'' from Persian to English<ref name="vmh">[http://www.victoriamemorial-cal.org/official_info/victoria_newsletter_feb2014.pdf Sabyasachi Bhattacharya, 'Obituary' in the ''Victoria Memorial Newsletter'', 2014]</ref> while his maternal granduncle, Amritalal Gupta (অমৃতলাল গুপ্ত), was the Acharya (আচার্য) of the Dacca Brahmo Samaj, who wrote ''Cheleder Katha'' (''ছেলেদের কথা'') and ''Punnyabati Nari'' (''পূণ্যবতি নারী'').  


Later, De completed his B.A. (Honours School) at [[St. Catherine's College, Oxford|St. Catherine's Society, Oxford]], where his tutor was George Holmes. He completed his [[D.Phil.]] thesis on "Henry Dundas and the Government of India, 1784-1801" under the supervision of Colin Cuthbert Davies.<ref name="telegraphindia1">
Dey studied at St. Xavier's Collegiate School, Calcutta. He completed his I.A. & B.A. (Honours) in History at Presidency College, Calcutta, where he was a student of [[Susobhan Sarkar|Susobhan Chandra Sarkar]]. He was a debate secretary of the student's union of the college.
{{cite news|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130718/jsp/opinion/story_17126533.jsp#.vOvi_Tb9nIU |title=Clio's Disciple |first=Rudrangshu|last=Mukherjee |date=18 July 2013 |accessdate=2015-02-24}}</ref> on a Beit studentship at [[Nuffield College, Oxford]]. As the holder of this scholarship he taught students of the college. He was awarded the Curzon Memorial Prize for his essay "Macaulay and India". He was secretary, treasurer and president of the Oxford India Majlis.<ref name="thestatesman1">[http://www.thestatesman.com/news/6074-Historian-Barun-De-dead.html "Historian Barun De dead" - The Statesman, 18 July 2013] Retrieved 2015-03-05.</ref>  
 
Dey completed his 2nd B.A. (Honours School) at St. Catherine's Society, Oxford, where his tutors were George Holmes and Wilfred Knapp. He completed his D.Phil. thesis on "Henry Dundas and the Government of India, 1784-1801" under the supervision of Colin Cuthbert Davies<ref name="telegraphindia1">
{{cite news|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130718/jsp/opinion/story_17126533.jsp#.vOvi_Tb9nIU |title=Clio's Disciple |first=Rudrangshu|last=Mukherjee |date=18 July 2013 |accessdate=2015-02-24}}</ref> on a Beit studentship at Nuffield College, Oxford. As the holder of this scholarship he took classes in the college. He was awarded the Curzon Memorial Prize for his essay "Macaulay and India". He was secretary, treasurer and president of the Oxford India Majlis.<ref name="thestatesman1">[http://www.thestatesman.com/news/6074-Historian-Barun-De-dead.html "Historian Barun De dead" - The Statesman, 18 July 2013] Retrieved 2015-03-05.</ref>  


After returning from Oxford, he formed a lasting friendship with [[Saiyid Nurul Hasan]].<ref name="thetelegraphindia">{{cite news|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1150405/jsp/opinion/story_12677.jsp#.V7E5UjgkrIU |title=State of Abounding Grace |first=Gopal Krishna|last=Gandhi |date=2015 |accessdate=2016-08-15}}</ref>
After returning from Oxford, he formed a lasting friendship with [[Saiyid Nurul Hasan]].<ref name="thetelegraphindia">{{cite news|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1150405/jsp/opinion/story_12677.jsp#.V7E5UjgkrIU |title=State of Abounding Grace |first=Gopal Krishna|last=Gandhi |date=2015 |accessdate=2016-08-15}}</ref>


==Career==
==Career==
De held various positions at various times, including a senior professorship at the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta,<ref name="timesofindia1"/><ref name="businessstandard">[https://www.business-standard.com Rudrangshu Mukherjee, 'Ashok Mitra (1928-2018): A Voice of Dissent with a Tender Heart', Business Standard, 2 May, 2018]</ref> the founder-directorship of the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta and the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies,<ref name="telegraphindia1"/> a membership, held for three terms, of the [[Indian Council of Historical Research]], New Delhi, and the role of honorary state editor of the West Bengal District Gazetteers.<ref name="ihr1">[http://ihr.sagepub.com/content/41/1/147.full.pdf+html "Professor Barun De (1932-2013)" - Sabyasachi Bhattacharya] Indian Historical Review. Retrieved 2015-03-15.</ref> He taught and worked abroad, among other places, at [[Duke University]] as a visiting [[associate professor]], the [[Indian Institute of Advanced Studies]], [[Shimla]], as a senior fellow,<ref name="thestatesman1"/> Fondation Maison des sciences de l'homme, [[Paris]] as a [[directeur]], [[University of Sydney]] and [[University of Milan]] as a visiting [[professor]], and the [[University of World Economy and Diplomacy]], [[Tashkent]] as the India Chair (in the rank of minister-counsellor) for three years, with attachment to the Indian Embassy of [[Uzbekistan]],.<ref name="businessstandard1">[http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/historian-barun-de-dies-at-80-113071700809_1.html "Historian Barun De dies at 80" - Business Standard] Retrieved 2015-03-06.</ref> He was secretary (1974-76), sectional president and general president (1988) of the Indian History Congress.<ref name="frontline1"/>
Dey was a lecturer at the University of Calcutta, a reader at the University of Burdwan, an associate professor and programme director of the Post-Graduate Programme (later Post-Graduate Diploma in Management) and then professor and senior professor at the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta,<ref name="timesofindia1"/><ref name="businessstandard">[https://www.business-standard.com Rudrangshu Mukherjee, 'Ashok Mitra (1928-2018): A Voice of Dissent with a Tender Heart', Business Standard, 2 May, 2018]</ref> a professor and the founder-director of the [[Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta]], and the honorary state editor of the West Bengal District Gazetteers.<ref name="ihr1">[http://ihr.sagepub.com/content/41/1/147.full.pdf+html "Professor Barun De (1932-2013)" - Sabyasachi Bhattacharya] Indian Historical Review. Retrieved 2015-03-15.</ref>
 
He has taught and worked at various universities in India and abroad, such as Duke University as visiting associate professor, the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies, [[Shimla]], as senior fellow,<ref name="thestatesman1"/> ''Fondation Maison des sciences de l'homme'', Paris as ''directeur'', and University of Sydney and University of Milan as visiting professor. He was a member of two Government of India delegations to Moscow. He was  a delegate to several conferences of the United Nations University held at Rome, Madrid, Tokyo, Caracas, Quito, Mexico City, Tblisi and Berlin.<ref name="changingidentities"> Barun De, 'Imperialism, Nationalism and the Dialectics of Changing Identity in the Indian Subcontinent', in Joachim Heidrich, (ed.), 'Changing Identities: The Transformation of Asian and African Societies under Colonialism', Papers of a symposium held at the Centre for Modern Oriental Studies, Berlin, 21-22 October, 1993, Studien 1, (Berlin: Verlag Das Arabische Buch, 1994), pp. 61-78</ref>
 
He was a member of the [[Indian Council of Historical Research]], New Delhi, the Indian Council for Social Science Research, New Delhi, the Executive Council (''Karma Samity'') of Vishva Bharati University, Santiniketan, the West Bengal Higher Education Commission and the Executive Council of the A.N. Sinha Institute, Patna. He was secretary, sectional president and general president of the Indian History Congress.<ref name="frontline1"/>
 
Dey formally retired from service in 1993.


In 2004, he was appointed to a membership of the [[NCERT]] textbook review committee.<ref>[http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/arjun-singh-appoints-panel-to-review-ncert-textbooks/1/196584.html ''India Today'', 2004]</ref>
==Post-retirement==
In his post-retirement years, he was chairman of the West Bengal State Archives, Calcutta,<ref name="businessstandard1"/> a vice president of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,<ref name="frontline1"/>
a member of the Board of Trustees of the Indian Museum, Calcutta,<ref name="frontline1"/> and a member of the Heritage Conservation Committee of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, in which capacity he was among several people who prepared a list of heritage buildings of West Bengal.<ref>[https://www.kmcgov.in/KMCPortal/downloads/Graded_List_of_Heritage_Buildings_Grade_I_IIA_IIB.pdf "Heritage Conservation Committee"] p. 3. Retrieved 2015-03-23</ref> ''[[The Times of India]]'' has described him as "a pioneer of the heritage movement of West Bengal",<ref name="timesofindia1">[http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/Historian-scholar-Barun-De-dies-at-80/articleshow/21156245.cms "The Times of India" - Staff Reporter] Retrieved 2015-02-27.</ref> From 2008-2011 he was honorary chairman (in the rank of minister-of-state) of the West Bengal Heritage Commission, of which he was a member from 2001–2008.<ref name="businessstandard1"/>


He was appointed as a Tagore National Fellow, which he held at the Victoria Memorial Hall, Calcutta.<ref name="victoriamemorialnewsletter1">[http://www.victoriamemorial-cal.org/official_info/victoria_newsletter_feb2014.pdf "Obituary" in the ''Victoria Memorial Newsletter'' - Sabyasachi Bhattacharya] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150226153443/http://www.victoriamemorial-cal.org/official_info/victoria_newsletter_feb2014.pdf |date=2015-02-26 }} Retrieved 2015-0317.</ref>
Soon after his retirement De was once again appointed as director of the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies, Calcutta. From 1997-1998, he was Maulana Abul Kalam Azad fellow
of this institute.<ref name="telegraphindia1"/> He was a member of the Indian Council of Cultural Relations in this period. From 1998-2001 he held the India Chair (in the rank of minister-counsellor), with attachment to the Indian Embassy of Uzbekistan, at the University of World Economy and Diplomacy, Tashkent.<ref name="businessstandard1">[http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/historian-barun-de-dies-at-80-113071700809_1.html "Historian Barun De dies at 80" - Business Standard] Retrieved 2015-03-06.</ref> In that capacity he toured both Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan extensively.
 
After returning to India he was made a member of the textbook review committee of the National Council for Educational Research and Training (2004).<ref>[http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/arjun-singh-appoints-panel-to-review-ncert-textbooks/1/196584.html ''India Today'', 2004]</ref> He became chairman of the West Bengal State Archives, Calcutta,<ref name="businessstandard1"/> vice president of the Center for Archaeology and Training, Calcutta, vice president of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,<ref name="frontline1"/>
member of the Board of Trustees of the Indian Museum, Calcutta,<ref name="frontline1"/>, and member of the Court of Vishva Bharati University, Santiniketan.
 
He was a member of the Heritage Conservation Committee of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, in which capacity he contributed to the preparation of a list of heritage buildings of West Bengal.<ref>[https://www.kmcgov.in/KMCPortal/downloads/Graded_List_of_Heritage_Buildings_Grade_I_IIA_IIB.pdf "Heritage Conservation Committee"] p. 3. Retrieved 2015-03-23</ref> ''[[The Times of India]]'' has described him as "a pioneer of the heritage movement of West Bengal".<ref name="timesofindia1">[http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/Historian-scholar-Barun-De-dies-at-80/articleshow/21156245.cms "The Times of India" - Staff Reporter] Retrieved 2015-02-27.</ref> From 2001-2008 he was member of the West Bengal Heritage Commission, of which he was the honorary chairman (in the rank of minister-of-state) from 2008-2011.<ref name="businessstandard1"/>
 
He was nominated for a Padma award in 2010, which he did not accept.<ref name="padmaaward">List of nominees is in the Barun Dey Archive.</ref> From  2011-2013 he was the Tagore national fellow, which he held at the Victoria Memorial Hall, Calcutta.<ref name="victoriamemorialnewsletter1">[http://www.victoriamemorial-cal.org/official_info/victoria_newsletter_feb2014.pdf "Obituary" in the ''Victoria Memorial Newsletter'' - Sabyasachi Bhattacharya] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150226153443/http://www.victoriamemorial-cal.org/official_info/victoria_newsletter_feb2014.pdf |date=2015-02-26 }} Retrieved 2015-0317.</ref>


==Research==
==Research==
De's research spanned from early- to late-modern periods of Indian history. In the earlier part of his career he wrote on Henry Dundas and the conquest of India, while later on he addressed the Marxist critique of the colonial context of the Bengal renaissance.<ref>[http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/a-great-conversationalist-intellectual/article4925060.ece "A Conversationalist Intellectual - Sugata Bose"] Retrieved 2015-03-27.</ref> He was also concerned with the national movement: his popular textbook book, ''Freedom Struggle'', co-authored with [[Bipan Chandra]] and Amalesh Tripathi,<ref name="telegraphindia1"/> was censored by the new Central government that came to power in India in 1977.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=4DlMSrtOGLIC&pg=PA272 "Censorship of Historical Thought: A World Guide" - Antoon de Baets] Retrieved 2015-02-21.</ref> It has been translated into Bengali by Brajadulal Chattopadhyaya.<ref>[http://www.mainstreamweekly.net/article4385.html "Historian Barun De passes away - Panchanan Chattopadhyay"]. ''Mainstreamweekly''. Retrieved 2015-03-23.</ref> In 1975 he edited a thick volume in honour of Prof. Susobhan Sarkar in which he wrote the main essay on his teacher which reveals his preference for objectivity and critical analysis.<ref name="proceedingsoftheindianhistorycongress1">[https://www.jstor.org/stable/44156392?seq=2&loggedin=true#page_scan_tab_contents Irfan Habib, "Professor Barun De (1932-2013)" in ''Proceedings of the Indian History Congress'', Volume 73, 2012, p. 1554]</ref> He was the editor of 24 Parganas and Darjeeling ''District Gazetteers''.<ref name="districtgazetteers">[https://www.jstor.org/stable/44156392?loggedin=true&seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents Irfan Habib, "Professor Barun De (1932-2013)" in ''Proceedings of the Indian History Congress'', Volume 73, 2012, pp. 1553-1555]</ref> He contributed to the editing of the Jalpaiguri District Gazetteers.<ref name="districtgazetteers1">[https://books.google.com/books?id=UfToffd1KxMC&pg=PA201&lpg=PA201&dq=Barun+De,+Jalpaiguri+district+gazetteers&source=bl&ots=LCjhrE6fY2&sig=Rw9AXjtY445QnVTRA6XHXnuaZpU&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjWy5HlxfzaAhXIqo8KHROuAZMQ6AEIQzAF#v=onepage&q=Barun%20De%2C%20Jalpaiguri%20district%20gazetteers&f=false Abani Mohan Kusari, West Bengal District GazetteersL Jalpaiguri, Gazetteer of India, Calcutta, Barun De, Honorary State Editor, West Bengal District Gazetteers, Calcutta, 1981 in Michael Lampert, Discipline and Debate: The Language of Violence in Tibetan Buddhist Monastery, Berkeley: University of California Press, 2012].</ref>
Dey's research spanned from early to late modern period of Indian history. In the early half of his career he wrote on Henry Dundas and the conquest of India. Later, he addressed the Marxist critique of the colonial context of the Bengal renaissance.<ref>[http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/a-great-conversationalist-intellectual/article4925060.ece "A Conversationalist Intellectual - Sugata Bose"] Retrieved 2015-03-27.</ref>  


==Views==
He was also concerned with India's national movement. His popular textbook, ''Freedom Struggle'', co-authored with [[Bipan Chandra]] and Amalesh Tripathi,<ref name="telegraphindia1"/> was censored by the Indian government in 1977,<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=4DlMSrtOGLIC&pg=PA272 "Censorship of Historical Thought: A World Guide" - Antoon de Baets] Retrieved 2015-02-21.</ref> although he was well-known for his criticism of India's first emergency.<ref name="proceedingsoftheindianhistorycongress">[https://www.jstor.org/stable/44156392?seq=1&loggedin=true#page_scan_tab_contents Irfan Habib, "Professor Barun De (1932-2013)" in ''Proceedings of the Indian History Congress'', Vol. 73, 2012, p. 1554]</ref> This book has been translated into Bengali by Brajadulal Chattopadhyaya.<ref>[http://www.mainstreamweekly.net/article4385.html "Historian Barun De passes away - Panchanan Chattopadhyay"]. ''Mainstreamweekly''. Retrieved 2015-03-23.</ref>
De was well known for his criticism of the emergency of 1975–77.<ref name="proceedingsoftheindianhistorycongress">[https://www.jstor.org/stable/44156392?seq=1&loggedin=true#page_scan_tab_contents Irfan Habib, "Professor Barun De (1932-2013)" in ''Proceedings of the Indian History Congress'', Vol. 73, 2012, p. 1554]</ref>
 
In 1975, he edited a volume in honour of Susobhan Chandra Sarkar, in which he wrote the main essay that reveals his preference for objectivity and critical analysis.<ref name="proceedingsoftheindianhistorycongress1">[https://www.jstor.org/stable/44156392?seq=2&loggedin=true#page_scan_tab_contents Irfan Habib, "Professor Barun De (1932-2013)" in ''Proceedings of the Indian History Congress'', Volume 73, 2012, p. 1554]</ref> He edited the 24 Parganas and Darjeeling ''District Gazetteers''<ref name="districtgazetteers">[https://www.jstor.org/stable/44156392?loggedin=true&seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents Irfan Habib, "Professor Barun De (1932-2013)" in ''Proceedings of the Indian History Congress'', Volume 73, 2012, pp. 1553-1555]</ref> and contributed to the editing of the Jalpaiguri District Gazetteers too.<ref name="districtgazetteers1">[https://books.google.com/books?id=UfToffd1KxMC&pg=PA201&lpg=PA201&dq=Barun+De,+Jalpaiguri+district+gazetteers&source=bl&ots=LCjhrE6fY2&sig=Rw9AXjtY445QnVTRA6XHXnuaZpU&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjWy5HlxfzaAhXIqo8KHROuAZMQ6AEIQzAF#v=onepage&q=Barun%20De%2C%20Jalpaiguri%20district%20gazetteers&f=false Abani Mohan Kusari, West Bengal District GazetteersL Jalpaiguri, Gazetteer of India, Calcutta, Barun De, Honorary State Editor, West Bengal District Gazetteers, Calcutta, 1981 in Michael Lampert, Discipline and Debate: The Language of Violence in Tibetan Buddhist Monastery, Berkeley: University of California Press, 2012].</ref>


==Awards==
==Awards==
*D.Litt. (''Honouris Causa''), North Bengal University, 2000.<ref name="jagranjosh">[http://www.jagranjosh.com/current-affairs/barun-de-the-renowned-historian-and-academician-passed-away-at-80-1377577861-1 Akanksha Sharma, 'Barun De, The Renowned Historian and Academician Passed Away at 80' in ''Jagran Josh'', 17 July 2013]</ref>
Dey was awarded the D.Litt. (''Honouris Causa'') by North Bengal University in 2000.<ref name="jagranjosh">[http://www.jagranjosh.com/current-affairs/barun-de-the-renowned-historian-and-academician-passed-away-at-80-1377577861-1 Akanksha Sharma, 'Barun De, The Renowned Historian and Academician Passed Away at 80' in ''Jagran Josh'', 17 July 2013]</ref> He was confererred the Banga Samman by the Rotary International in Calcutta in 2008-09.


*Banga Samman, 2008-09
==Legacy==


==Death and legacy==
After Dey's death the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies, Calcutta had instituted a memorial lecture in his name.<ref>[http://makaias.gov.in/Programme_BarunDe_Memorial_Lecture1.pdf Barun De Memorial Lecture] Retrieved 2015-02-27.</ref> The Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta has renamed its auditorium at the Jadunath Bhavan Museum and Resource Centre after him.<ref name="jadunathbhavan">[http://jbmrc.cssscal.org/remembering-professor-barun-de/ Barun De Auditorium, CSSSC]</ref>
 
De died due to [[renal failure]] in [[Kolkata]] on 16 July 2013 aged 80.<ref name="timesofindia1" /><ref name="HT20130718">{{cite news|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/kolkata/Historian-Barun-De-passes-away/Article-1094187.aspx |date=18 July 2013 |title=Historian Barun De passes away |publisher=Hindustan Times |accessdate=4 October 2013 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131010131755/http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/kolkata/Historian-Barun-De-passes-away/Article-1094187.aspx |archivedate=10 October 2013 }}</ref>
 
The Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies, Calcutta has instituted a Barun De Memorial Lecture.<ref>[http://makaias.gov.in/Programme_BarunDe_Memorial_Lecture1.pdf Barun De Memorial Lecture] Retrieved 2015-02-27.</ref> Barun De Auditorium of Jadunath Bhavan Museum and Resource Centre, the museum of the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta, is named after him.<ref name="jadunathbhavan">[http://jbmrc.cssscal.org/remembering-professor-barun-de/ Barun De Auditorium, CSSSC]</ref>


==Publications==
==Publications==
Line 56: Line 67:
*''Secularism at Bay: Uzbekistan at the Turn of the Century'' (New Delhi, 2006)<ref>[https://books.google.com/books/about/Secularism_at_Bay.html?id=TjE74t1I9NsC&redir_esc=y "Secularism at Bay: Uzbekistan at the Turn of the Century" - Barun De] Retrieved 2015-02-17.</ref>
*''Secularism at Bay: Uzbekistan at the Turn of the Century'' (New Delhi, 2006)<ref>[https://books.google.com/books/about/Secularism_at_Bay.html?id=TjE74t1I9NsC&redir_esc=y "Secularism at Bay: Uzbekistan at the Turn of the Century" - Barun De] Retrieved 2015-02-17.</ref>
*(ed.) ''State, Development and Political Culture: Bangladesh and India'', (New Delhi, 1997) (co-edited with Ranabir Samaddar)
*(ed.) ''State, Development and Political Culture: Bangladesh and India'', (New Delhi, 1997) (co-edited with Ranabir Samaddar)
*(ed.) ''Mukti Sangrame Banglar Chatra-Samaj'' (''Students of Bengal in the Struggle of Liberation'') (in Bengali), (Calcutta: Paschim Banga Itihas Samsad, 1992)
*(সম্পাদক) 'মুক্তি সংগ্রামে বাংলার ছাত্র-সমাজ' (কলকাতা, পশ্চিমবঙ্গ ইতিহাস সংসদ, ১৯৯২) (''Students of Bengal in the Struggle of Liberation'', Paschim Banga Itihas Samsad, 1992)
*(ed.) ''West Bengal District Gazetteers, 24 Parganas'', (Calcutta, 1983)
*(ed.) ''West Bengal District Gazetteers, 24 Parganas'', (Calcutta, 1983)
*(ed.) ''West Bengal District Gazetteers, Jalpaiguri'', (Calcutta, 1981) (co-edited with Abani Mohan Kusari).
*(ed.) ''West Bengal District Gazetteers, Jalpaiguri'', (Calcutta, 1981) (co-edited with Abani Mohan Kusari).
Line 67: Line 78:
*(et al. eds.) ''Essays in Honour of Professor Sushobhan Chandra Sarkar'' (New Delhi, 1975)<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=xJgDawlnknwC&pg=PA190 "Peasant Labour and Colonial Capital: Rural Bengal since 1770" - Sugata Bose] 2015-02-19.</ref>
*(et al. eds.) ''Essays in Honour of Professor Sushobhan Chandra Sarkar'' (New Delhi, 1975)<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=xJgDawlnknwC&pg=PA190 "Peasant Labour and Colonial Capital: Rural Bengal since 1770" - Sugata Bose] 2015-02-19.</ref>
*''Freedom Struggle'' (New Delhi, 1972), (co-authored with [[Bipan Chandra]] and Amalesh Tripathi)<ref>[https://www.amazon.in/Freedom-Struggle-Bipan-Chandra/dp/8123702493 "Freedom Struggle" - Bipan Chandra, Amalesh Tripathi and Barun De] Retrieved 2015-02-18.</ref>
*''Freedom Struggle'' (New Delhi, 1972), (co-authored with [[Bipan Chandra]] and Amalesh Tripathi)<ref>[https://www.amazon.in/Freedom-Struggle-Bipan-Chandra/dp/8123702493 "Freedom Struggle" - Bipan Chandra, Amalesh Tripathi and Barun De] Retrieved 2015-02-18.</ref>
== See also ==
*[[NCERT textbook controversies]]


==References==
==References==
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[[Category:Bengali historians]]
[[Category:Bengali historians]]
[[Category:Brahmos]]
[[Category:Brahmos]]
[[Category:Deaths from kidney failure]]
[[Category:Economic historians]]
[[Category:Economic historians]]
[[Category:Historians of South Asia]]
[[Category:Historians of South Asia]]
[[Category:Indian civil servants]]
[[Category:Indian Marxist historians]]
[[Category:Indian Marxist historians]]
[[Category:Indian Institute of Management Calcutta faculty]]
[[Category:Indian Institute of Management Calcutta faculty]]
[[Category:Indian political writers]]
[[Category:Indian institute directors]]
[[Category:Indian institute directors]]
[[Category:Presidency University, Kolkata alumni]]
[[Category:Presidency University, Kolkata alumni]]
[[Category:Scientists from Kolkata]]
[[Category:University of Calcutta faculty]]
[[Category:University of Calcutta faculty]]

Latest revision as of 19:57, 28 February 2025

Barun Kumar Dey (Bengali: বরুণ কুমার দে (দেব সরকার)) (30 October, 1932 – 16 July, 2013) (Bengali: ১৩ কার্তিক, ১৩৩৯ - ৩১ আষাঢ়, ১৪২০) was an Indian historian and institution builder.

Barun Dey
Born(1932-10-30)30 October 1932
Calcutta, Bengal, British India
Died16 July 2013(2013-07-16) (aged 80)(Bengali: ৮১)
Kolkata, West Bengal, India
OccupationHistorian
Years active1961-2001
Spouse(s)Romabai De (Bengali: রমাবাঈ দে) (nee Datta Gupta) (Bengali: দত্তগুপ্ত)
Children2

Early life and educationEdit

Dey was a member of a Bengali (বাঙালী) Hindu (হিন্দু) Uttar Rarhi Kayastha (উত্তর রার্হি কায়স্থ)-Brahmo (ব্রাহ্ম) family of Calcutta.[1][2] He was the son of Basanta Kumar Dey, a senior of the Bengal Nagpur Railways[3] and Pramila Dey (nee Gupta). His paternal grandfather was the Persianist and civil servant, Brajendranath Dey, who edited and translated Nizamuddin Ahmed's Tabaqat-i-Akbari from Persian to English[4] while his maternal granduncle, Amritalal Gupta (অমৃতলাল গুপ্ত), was the Acharya (আচার্য) of the Dacca Brahmo Samaj, who wrote Cheleder Katha (ছেলেদের কথা) and Punnyabati Nari (পূণ্যবতি নারী).

Dey studied at St. Xavier's Collegiate School, Calcutta. He completed his I.A. & B.A. (Honours) in History at Presidency College, Calcutta, where he was a student of Susobhan Chandra Sarkar. He was a debate secretary of the student's union of the college.

Dey completed his 2nd B.A. (Honours School) at St. Catherine's Society, Oxford, where his tutors were George Holmes and Wilfred Knapp. He completed his D.Phil. thesis on "Henry Dundas and the Government of India, 1784-1801" under the supervision of Colin Cuthbert Davies[5] on a Beit studentship at Nuffield College, Oxford. As the holder of this scholarship he took classes in the college. He was awarded the Curzon Memorial Prize for his essay "Macaulay and India". He was secretary, treasurer and president of the Oxford India Majlis.[6]

After returning from Oxford, he formed a lasting friendship with Saiyid Nurul Hasan.[7]

CareerEdit

Dey was a lecturer at the University of Calcutta, a reader at the University of Burdwan, an associate professor and programme director of the Post-Graduate Programme (later Post-Graduate Diploma in Management) and then professor and senior professor at the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta,[8][9] a professor and the founder-director of the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta, and the honorary state editor of the West Bengal District Gazetteers.[10]

He has taught and worked at various universities in India and abroad, such as Duke University as visiting associate professor, the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies, Shimla, as senior fellow,[6] Fondation Maison des sciences de l'homme, Paris as directeur, and University of Sydney and University of Milan as visiting professor. He was a member of two Government of India delegations to Moscow. He was a delegate to several conferences of the United Nations University held at Rome, Madrid, Tokyo, Caracas, Quito, Mexico City, Tblisi and Berlin.[11]

He was a member of the Indian Council of Historical Research, New Delhi, the Indian Council for Social Science Research, New Delhi, the Executive Council (Karma Samity) of Vishva Bharati University, Santiniketan, the West Bengal Higher Education Commission and the Executive Council of the A.N. Sinha Institute, Patna. He was secretary, sectional president and general president of the Indian History Congress.[3]

Dey formally retired from service in 1993.

Post-retirementEdit

Soon after his retirement De was once again appointed as director of the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies, Calcutta. From 1997-1998, he was Maulana Abul Kalam Azad fellow of this institute.[5] He was a member of the Indian Council of Cultural Relations in this period. From 1998-2001 he held the India Chair (in the rank of minister-counsellor), with attachment to the Indian Embassy of Uzbekistan, at the University of World Economy and Diplomacy, Tashkent.[12] In that capacity he toured both Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan extensively.

After returning to India he was made a member of the textbook review committee of the National Council for Educational Research and Training (2004).[13] He became chairman of the West Bengal State Archives, Calcutta,[12] vice president of the Center for Archaeology and Training, Calcutta, vice president of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,[3] member of the Board of Trustees of the Indian Museum, Calcutta,[3], and member of the Court of Vishva Bharati University, Santiniketan.

He was a member of the Heritage Conservation Committee of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, in which capacity he contributed to the preparation of a list of heritage buildings of West Bengal.[14] The Times of India has described him as "a pioneer of the heritage movement of West Bengal".[8] From 2001-2008 he was member of the West Bengal Heritage Commission, of which he was the honorary chairman (in the rank of minister-of-state) from 2008-2011.[12]

He was nominated for a Padma award in 2010, which he did not accept.[15] From 2011-2013 he was the Tagore national fellow, which he held at the Victoria Memorial Hall, Calcutta.[16]

ResearchEdit

Dey's research spanned from early to late modern period of Indian history. In the early half of his career he wrote on Henry Dundas and the conquest of India. Later, he addressed the Marxist critique of the colonial context of the Bengal renaissance.[17]

He was also concerned with India's national movement. His popular textbook, Freedom Struggle, co-authored with Bipan Chandra and Amalesh Tripathi,[5] was censored by the Indian government in 1977,[18] although he was well-known for his criticism of India's first emergency.[19] This book has been translated into Bengali by Brajadulal Chattopadhyaya.[20]

In 1975, he edited a volume in honour of Susobhan Chandra Sarkar, in which he wrote the main essay that reveals his preference for objectivity and critical analysis.[21] He edited the 24 Parganas and Darjeeling District Gazetteers[22] and contributed to the editing of the Jalpaiguri District Gazetteers too.[23]

AwardsEdit

Dey was awarded the D.Litt. (Honouris Causa) by North Bengal University in 2000.[24] He was confererred the Banga Samman by the Rotary International in Calcutta in 2008-09.

LegacyEdit

After Dey's death the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies, Calcutta had instituted a memorial lecture in his name.[25] The Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta has renamed its auditorium at the Jadunath Bhavan Museum and Resource Centre after him.[26]

PublicationsEdit

  • Secularism at Bay: Uzbekistan at the Turn of the Century (New Delhi, 2006)[27]
  • (ed.) State, Development and Political Culture: Bangladesh and India, (New Delhi, 1997) (co-edited with Ranabir Samaddar)
  • (সম্পাদক) 'মুক্তি সংগ্রামে বাংলার ছাত্র-সমাজ' (কলকাতা, পশ্চিমবঙ্গ ইতিহাস সংসদ, ১৯৯২) (Students of Bengal in the Struggle of Liberation, Paschim Banga Itihas Samsad, 1992)
  • (ed.) West Bengal District Gazetteers, 24 Parganas, (Calcutta, 1983)
  • (ed.) West Bengal District Gazetteers, Jalpaiguri, (Calcutta, 1981) (co-edited with Abani Mohan Kusari).
  • (ed.) West Bengal District Gazetteers, Darjeeling, (Calcutta, 1980)
  • The Dialectics Between Response to Exogenous and Autochthonous Innovation in India in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, with Special Reference to Modern Bengal, (Tokyo: United Nations University, 1979)[28]
  • (ed.) Perspectives in Social Sciences, 1: Historical Dimensions (New Delhi, 1977)[29][30]
  • "A Biographical Perspective on the Political and Economic Ideas of Rammohun Ray", in V.C.Joshi, (ed.), Rammohun Roy and the Process of Modernisation in India, New Delhi, 1975[31]
  • (ed.) Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, (Calcutta: Jadavpur Session, 1974)
  • (ed.) Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, (Aligarh: Aligarh Session, 1975)
  • (et al. eds.) Essays in Honour of Professor Sushobhan Chandra Sarkar (New Delhi, 1975)[32]
  • Freedom Struggle (New Delhi, 1972), (co-authored with Bipan Chandra and Amalesh Tripathi)[33]

ReferencesEdit

  1. ↑ "Historian Barun De dead". 18 July 2013. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  2. ↑ "Historian Barun Dey passes away". Hindustan Times. 18 July 2013. Archived from the original on 10 October 2013. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "Historian and Administrator" - Aniruddha Ray Retrieved 2015-03-03
  4. ↑ Sabyasachi Bhattacharya, 'Obituary' in the Victoria Memorial Newsletter, 2014
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Mukherjee, Rudrangshu (18 July 2013). "Clio's Disciple". Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Historian Barun De dead" - The Statesman, 18 July 2013 Retrieved 2015-03-05.
  7. ↑ Gandhi, Gopal Krishna (2015). "State of Abounding Grace". Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "The Times of India" - Staff Reporter Retrieved 2015-02-27.
  9. ↑ Rudrangshu Mukherjee, 'Ashok Mitra (1928-2018): A Voice of Dissent with a Tender Heart', Business Standard, 2 May, 2018
  10. ↑ "Professor Barun De (1932-2013)" - Sabyasachi Bhattacharya Indian Historical Review. Retrieved 2015-03-15.
  11. ↑ Barun De, 'Imperialism, Nationalism and the Dialectics of Changing Identity in the Indian Subcontinent', in Joachim Heidrich, (ed.), 'Changing Identities: The Transformation of Asian and African Societies under Colonialism', Papers of a symposium held at the Centre for Modern Oriental Studies, Berlin, 21-22 October, 1993, Studien 1, (Berlin: Verlag Das Arabische Buch, 1994), pp. 61-78
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 "Historian Barun De dies at 80" - Business Standard Retrieved 2015-03-06.
  13. ↑ India Today, 2004
  14. ↑ "Heritage Conservation Committee" p. 3. Retrieved 2015-03-23
  15. ↑ List of nominees is in the Barun Dey Archive.
  16. ↑ "Obituary" in the Victoria Memorial Newsletter - Sabyasachi Bhattacharya Archived 2015-02-26 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 2015-0317.
  17. ↑ "A Conversationalist Intellectual - Sugata Bose" Retrieved 2015-03-27.
  18. ↑ "Censorship of Historical Thought: A World Guide" - Antoon de Baets Retrieved 2015-02-21.
  19. ↑ Irfan Habib, "Professor Barun De (1932-2013)" in Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, Vol. 73, 2012, p. 1554
  20. ↑ "Historian Barun De passes away - Panchanan Chattopadhyay". Mainstreamweekly. Retrieved 2015-03-23.
  21. ↑ Irfan Habib, "Professor Barun De (1932-2013)" in Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, Volume 73, 2012, p. 1554
  22. ↑ Irfan Habib, "Professor Barun De (1932-2013)" in Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, Volume 73, 2012, pp. 1553-1555
  23. ↑ Abani Mohan Kusari, West Bengal District GazetteersL Jalpaiguri, Gazetteer of India, Calcutta, Barun De, Honorary State Editor, West Bengal District Gazetteers, Calcutta, 1981 in Michael Lampert, Discipline and Debate: The Language of Violence in Tibetan Buddhist Monastery, Berkeley: University of California Press, 2012.
  24. ↑ Akanksha Sharma, 'Barun De, The Renowned Historian and Academician Passed Away at 80' in Jagran Josh, 17 July 2013
  25. ↑ Barun De Memorial Lecture Retrieved 2015-02-27.
  26. ↑ Barun De Auditorium, CSSSC
  27. ↑ "Secularism at Bay: Uzbekistan at the Turn of the Century" - Barun De Retrieved 2015-02-17.
  28. ↑ The Dialectics Between Response to Exogenous and Autochthonous Innovation in India in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, with Special Reference to Modern Bengal - Barun De Retrieved 2018-01-12.
  29. ↑ David L.Curley (reviewer), Perspectives in Social Sciences I: Historical Dimension, in The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 40, No. 1, (Nov. 1980), pp. 158–60
  30. ↑ Chandak Sengoopta, The Rays before Satyajit: Creativity and Modernity in Colonial India, (New Delhi, Oxford, 2016)
  31. ↑ Amiya P. Sen, "Rammohan Roy", in Mahendra Prasad Singh and Himanshu Roy, Indian Political Thought: Themes and Thinkers, (Delhi, Pearson, 2011), p. 68
  32. ↑ "Peasant Labour and Colonial Capital: Rural Bengal since 1770" - Sugata Bose 2015-02-19.
  33. ↑ "Freedom Struggle" - Bipan Chandra, Amalesh Tripathi and Barun De Retrieved 2015-02-18.

External linksEdit

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