Saroj Nalini Dutt

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Saroj Nalini Dutt
Saroj Nalini Dutt photo.jpg
Born(1887-10-09)9 October 1887
Died19 January 1925(1925-01-19) (aged 37)
Spouse(s)Gurusaday Dutt (Bengali: গুরুসদয় দত্ত)
ChildrenBirendrasaday Dutt (Bengali: বীরেন্দ্রসদয় দত্ত)

Saroj Nalini Dutt (née De) (Bengali: সরোজ নলিনী দত্ত) MBE, (9 October 1887 – 19 January 1925) (Bengali: ২৩ আশ্বিন, ১২৯৪ - ৬ মাঘ, ১৩৩১) was an Indian social reformer and feminist.[1][2]

Background

She was born in Bandel, Hooghly in Bengal to Brajendranath De and Nagendranandini De. In 1905, she married Gurusaday Dutt. Her son, Birendrasaday Dutt, was born in 1909.[3][4]

Work

She was a social reformer and a pioneer of the movement for the uplifting of women in Bengal. She pioneered the formation of Mahila Samitis (women's institutes) in Bengal. She started the first Mahila Samiti in 1913 in Pabna district with the object of developing friendly cooperation there among the purdahnashin ladies. Subsequently, she started Mahila Samitis in Birbhum (1916), Sultanpur (1917), and Rampurhat (1918) districts respectively.

She was the secretary of the Indian Section of the Calcutta League of Women’s Workers (later Bengal Presidency Council of Women), member of the Council of the Nari Siksha Samiti (Women’s Educational League), and Member of the Calcutta Municipal Corporation’s committee which was to make suitable arrangements for allowing women to elect councillors. She was also the vice president of the Sylhet Union, an association set up for the promotion of female education in Sylhet district.[5]

Awards

  • Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE), 1918.

Legacy

An association for the upliftment of helpless and needy women, founded in 1925,[6] and a primary teachers training institute, both set up in Calcutta, are named after her.[7]

References

  1. Geraldine Forbes, 'Women in Modern India', 'The New Cambridge History of India', Volume: IV.2, ,Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1996, pp.28-29
  2. Jayati Gupta, 'Travel Culture, Travel Writing and Bengali Women, 1870-1940', 1st edition, (Routledge, India, 2020), chapter: Saroj Nalini Dutt (1887-1925)
  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), (Himphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, 1941)
  4. রাজীব কুন্ডু, 'সরোজ নলিনী: সংখিপ্ত জীবনি', (অবভাস, কলকাতা, ২০১৪) (Rajib Kundu, Saroj Nalini: Shankhipta Jibani, Ababhash, Kolkata, 2014)
  5. >'সরোজনলিনী দত্ত', in সুবোধ চন্দ্র সেনগুপ্ত এবং অঞ্জলি বসু, 'সংসদ বাঙালি চরিত্রবিধান', ১, (কলকাতা, শিশু সাহিত্য সংসদ, ২০০২), পৃ: ৫৬৫, ISBN=৮১-৮৫৬২৬-৬৫-০, ('Saroj Nalini Dutta' in Subodhchandra Sengupta and Anjali Basu, 'Samsad Bangali Charitrabidhan', Vol. 1, (Kolkata, Shishu Sahitya Samsad, 2002), p. 565, (Bibliographical Dictionary) ISBN=81-85626-65-0
  6. Saroj Nalini Dutt Memorial Association
  7. Saroj Nalini Primary Teachers Training Institute, Calcutta

External links