Basanta Kumar De: Difference between revisions

From Bharatpedia, an open encyclopedia
Tags: Mobile edit Mobile web edit
Tags: Mobile edit Mobile web edit
Line 40: Line 40:
After retirement, he was offered membership of the Railway Recruitment Board in Gorakhpur, which he declined. He took the initiative to publish large segments of his father, Brajendranath De's, memoir in the ''[[Calcutta Review]]'', on the occasion of the latter's birth centenary in 1952. As an original Trustee of the Estate of the late Gurusaday Dutt, he recommended as well as contributed to the formation of the [[Gurusaday Museum]],<ref name="gurusadaymuseum">[https://www.museumsofindia.org Gurusaday Museum]</ref> which is now under the Bratachari Society.  
After retirement, he was offered membership of the Railway Recruitment Board in Gorakhpur, which he declined. He took the initiative to publish large segments of his father, Brajendranath De's, memoir in the ''[[Calcutta Review]]'', on the occasion of the latter's birth centenary in 1952. As an original Trustee of the Estate of the late Gurusaday Dutt, he recommended as well as contributed to the formation of the [[Gurusaday Museum]],<ref name="gurusadaymuseum">[https://www.museumsofindia.org Gurusaday Museum]</ref> which is now under the Bratachari Society.  


In 1968, he was elected a member<ref name="hareschoolcalcutta">Notice dated 12th March 1968, signed by M. Pradhan, Hony. General Secretary of the Organising Committee of Hare School, Calcutta. Letter    
In 1968, he was elected a member<ref name="hareschoolcalcutta">Notice dated 12th March 1968, signed by M. Pradhan, Hony. General Secretary of the Organising Committee of Hare School, Calcutta. Notice    
in the custody of Barun De's library.</ref> of the Organising Committee of the 150th Foundation Anniversary Celebration of his alma mater, Hare School, Calcutta and chairman<ref name="homeschoolcalcuttabrochuresubcommittee">Minutes of the Meeting of the Brochure Sub-Committee held at Hare School at 4-30 P.M. on Friday, the 22nd March, 1968. Letter in the custody of Barun De's library.</ref> of the Brochure Sub-Committee of the Organising Committee responsible for the publication of all materials related to the foundation day celebration.
in the custody of Barun De's library.</ref> of the Organising Committee of the 150th Foundation Anniversary Celebration of his alma mater, Hare School, Calcutta and chairman<ref name="homeschoolcalcuttabrochuresubcommittee">Minutes of the Meeting of the Brochure Sub-Committee held at Hare School at 4-30 P.M. on Friday, the 22nd March, 1968. Agenda papers in the custody of Barun De's library.</ref> of the Brochure Sub-Committee of the Organising Committee responsible for the publication of all materials related to the foundation day celebration.


==Legacy==
==Legacy==

Revision as of 04:04, 22 February 2022

Basanta Kumar De
Born(1897-03-09)9 March 1897
Balasore, Orissa, India
Died31 August 1975(1975-08-31) (aged 78) (Bengali: ৭৯)
Calcutta, West Bengal, India
OccupationCivil Servant
Years active1921-1952
Spouse(s)Pramila De (Bengali: প্রমিলা দে) (née Gupta) (Bengali: গুপ্ত)
Children1

Basanta Kumar De (Bengali: বসন্ত কুমার দে) (9 March, 1897 - 31 August, 1975) (Bengali: ২৭ ফাল্গুন, ১৩০৩ - ১৪ ভাদ্র, ১৩৮২) was a senior officer of the BNR.[1][2]

Early Life and education

De, who was a member of a Kayastha (কায়স্থ)-Brahmo (ব্রাহ্ম) family of Calcutta, was the third son of Brajendranath De and Nagendranandini De (née Bose). [3][4]He completed his education at Hare School, Calcutta and Presidency College, Calcutta, where he completed his B.A. (Hons.) in English. He attended Trinity College, Cambridge, where his moral tutor was James Drummond Anderson. Later, he was admitted to The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple.[5] His son was Barun De.[2][1]

Career

De was recruited into the Commercial Department of the BNR in London in 1921.[6][7] His first posting was as assistant traffic superintendent.[8] In that capacity, he played an important role in the building of the BNR Hotel in Puri. As a young officer posted in Kharagpore he witnessed the first railway workshop strike led by V.V. Giri in 1927.

In 1931, he was tasked with the responsibility of carrying out the survey work for laying of the tracks from Raipur to Vizianagram and Sonepur to Bolangir. Through the 1930s he served as district commercial officer in Kharagpore, Waltair,[9] Nainpur and Adra.[7] While he was in Adra for a second time between 1939 and 1942, he was given the responsibility of managing the transportation of Congress workers and leaders attending the Ramgarh Session of the Indian National Congress of 1941. In this connection, he had to visit Mahatma Gandhi there.[7]

In the 1940s, he served as regional controller of railway priorities under the Railway Board and then as traffic superintendent general. During the Second World War years, he was commissioned as a major in the Commercial Department of the BNR under the Defence of India Rules and Act.[10] In 1950, he was appointed as commercial traffic manager. In the last two years of his career, he attended meetings chaired by the then chief minister of West Bengal, Bidhan Chandra Ray.

De retired from active service at the end of 1952.

Post-retirement

After retirement, he was offered membership of the Railway Recruitment Board in Gorakhpur, which he declined. He took the initiative to publish large segments of his father, Brajendranath De's, memoir in the Calcutta Review, on the occasion of the latter's birth centenary in 1952. As an original Trustee of the Estate of the late Gurusaday Dutt, he recommended as well as contributed to the formation of the Gurusaday Museum,[11] which is now under the Bratachari Society.

In 1968, he was elected a member[12] of the Organising Committee of the 150th Foundation Anniversary Celebration of his alma mater, Hare School, Calcutta and chairman[13] of the Brochure Sub-Committee of the Organising Committee responsible for the publication of all materials related to the foundation day celebration.

Legacy

Approximately 2, 000 photographs of De's family, held by him, have been given, on loan, to the photographic archive of the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta in 2001.[14] After the archive was shifted to the newly established Jadunath Bhavan Museum and Resource Centre of the CSSSC in 2009, the photographs were deposited there.[15]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Irfan Habib, "Professor Barun De (1932-2013)" in Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, Volume 73, 2012, pp. 1553-1555
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Aniruddha Ray, "Historian and Administrator", 'Frontline', 2013 Retrieved 2015-03-03
  3. ↑ Gurusaday Dutt, 'A Woman of India: Being the Life of Saroj Nalini (Founder of Women's Institute Movement in India' (with a foreword by Rabindranath Tagore), (Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, 1941)
  4. ↑ রাজীব কুন্ডু, 'সরোজনলিনী: সংখিপ্ত জীবনি', (অবভাস, কলকাতা, ২০১৪) (Rajib Kundu, 'Saroj Nalini: Shankhipta Jibani', Ababhash, Kolkata, 2014),
  5. ↑ Online list entitled 'South Asians at the Inns of Court -Middle Temple, 1863-1944', compiled by Renu Paul, in consultation with Mitra Sharafi. (Source: H.A.C. Sturgess, ed., Register of Admissions to the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple: From the Fifteenth Century to the Year 1944' (London: published for the Hon. Society of the Middle Temple by Butterworth & Co., 1949) volumes II (1782-1909) and III (1910-1944), p.82 at https://docplayer.net>
  6. ↑ Letter from Brajendranath De on 9th September, 1921 from 22, Louden Street, Calcutta to his son-in-law, Gurusaday Dutt, then living in London. Letter, from G.S. Dutt archive, is with his (Dutt's) grandson, Devsaday Dutt.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Text of Barun De's interview given to Kris Manjapra for Tufts University Oral History Archive, 2009
  8. ↑ Brajendranath De, 'Reminiscences of an Indian Member of the Indian Civil Service', Calcutta, 1925-1929, pp.416-417. Memoir manuscript in the custody of Barun De's library.
  9. ↑ Letter from Brajendranath De of 20, Theatre Road, Calcutta to Paresh Chandra Datta and Sarasi Nalini Datta, then living in England, dated 26th March, 1931. Letter in the custody of Barun De's library.
  10. ↑ Memorandum dated 7th July 1947 and signed by the commercial traffic manager of the BNR granting honorary ranks noted each under the War Department Notification to Ex: Defence of India Commissioned Officers of the same railway company. Memorandum in the custody of Barun De's library.
  11. ↑ Gurusaday Museum
  12. ↑ Notice dated 12th March 1968, signed by M. Pradhan, Hony. General Secretary of the Organising Committee of Hare School, Calcutta. Notice in the custody of Barun De's library.
  13. ↑ Minutes of the Meeting of the Brochure Sub-Committee held at Hare School at 4-30 P.M. on Friday, the 22nd March, 1968. Agenda papers in the custody of Barun De's library.
  14. ↑ "Situating an Eminent Historian Eminently" - Sabyasachi Bhattacharya Retrieved 2015-03-21.
  15. ↑ Brochure entitled Jadunath Bhavan Museum and Resource Centre, (Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta, 2009), p. 7

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=Basanta_Kumar_De&oldid=304325"