Bethune College

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Bethune College
Bethune School-Building.jpg
Bethune School Building, c. 1949
MottoViddaya Vindatey Amritam
Motto in English
knowledge provides immortal bliss
TypeWomen's college
Established1879; 145 years ago (1879)
AffiliationUniversity of Calcutta
PrincipalDr. Anushila Hazra Bhattacharya
Location, ,
India

22°35′18″N 88°22′04″E / 22.5882°N 88.3679°E / 22.5882; 88.3679Coordinates: 22°35′18″N 88°22′04″E / 22.5882°N 88.3679°E / 22.5882; 88.3679
CampusUrban
Websitewww.bethunecollege.ac.in
File:Bethune College logo.jpg
Seal of the Bethune College

Bethune College is a women's college located on Bidhan Sarani in Kolkata, India, and affiliated to the University of Calcutta. It is the oldest women's college in India.[1] It was established as a girls' school in 1849,[2]:11–12 and as a college in 1879.[3]

History[edit]

Laying of the foundation stone at Cornwallis Square, November 1850
A 1999 stamp dedicated to the Bethune Collegiate School

The college was founded as the Calcutta Female School in 1849 by John Elliot Drinkwater Bethune,[4] with the financial support of Dakshinaranjan Mukherjee. The school started in Mukherjee's home in Baitakkhana, with 21 girls enrolled.[5] The following year, enrolment rose to 80.[6] In November, on a plot on the west side of Cornwallis Square, the cornerstone for a permanent school building was laid. The name "Hindu Female School" was inscribed on the copper-plate placed in the stone and on the ceremonial silver trowel made for the occasion.[7] Support for the school waned after Bethune's death in August 1851.[6]

Postage stamp of 1978 commemorating the centenary of Bethune College

The government took it over in 1856, renaming it Bethune School after its founder in 1862–63.[4] In 1879 it was developed into Bethune College, the first women's college in India and Bethune school was Second (First being in Bhidewada Pune, by Jyotirao Phule) women's school in whole Asia.[1]

Rankings[edit]

College rankings

Bethune College has ranked 77th among colleges in India by the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) in 2021.[8]

Notable alumnae[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 LBR, Team (5 May 2018). Limca Book of Records: India at Her Best. Hachette India. p. 161. ISBN 9789351952404.
  2. Bagal, Jogesh Chandra (1949). "History of the Bethune School & College (1849–1949)". In Nag, Kalidas; Ghose, Lotika (eds.). Bethune School & College Centenary Volume, 1849–1949. Bethune College. pp. 11–12.
  3. Bose, Anima (1978). Higher Education in India in the 19th Century: The American Involvement, 1883-1893. Punthi Pustak. p. 249.
  4. 4.0 4.1 Acharya, Poromesh (1990). "Education in Old Calcutta". In Chaudhuri, Sukanta (ed.). Calcutta: The Living City. Vol. I: The Past. Oxford University Press. p. 87. ISBN 978-0-19-563696-3.
  5. Bagal, Jogesh Chandra (1949). "History of the Bethune School & College (1849–1949)". In Nag, Kalidas; Ghose, Lotika (eds.). Bethune School & College Centenary Volume, 1849–1949. Bethune College. pp. 11–12.
  6. 6.0 6.1 Forbes, Geraldine Hancock (1999). Women in Modern India. The New Cambridge History of India. Vol. IV.2. Cambridge University Press. p. 39. ISBN 978-0-521-65377-0.
  7. Bagal, Jogesh Chandra (1949). "History of the Bethune School & College (1849–1949)". In Nag, Kalidas; Ghose, Lotika (eds.). Bethune School & College Centenary Volume, 1849–1949. Bethune College. pp. 15–16.
  8. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Rankings_NIRF_C_2021
  9. 9.0 9.1 Ray, Bharati (1990). "Women in Calcutta: The Years of Change". In Chaudhuri, Sukanta (ed.). Calcutta: The Living City. Vol. II: The Present and Future. Oxford University Press. p. 34. ISBN 978-0-19-563697-0.
  10. 10.0 10.1 Southard, Barbara (May 1993). "Colonial Politics and Women's Rights: Woman Suffrage Campaigns in Bengal, British India in the 1920s". Modern Asian Studies. 27 (2): 405–406. doi:10.1017/S0026749X00011549. JSTOR 312775. S2CID 145276788.
  11. 11.0 11.1 11.2 Ghosh, Durba (August 2013). "Revolutionary Women and Nationalist Heroes in Bengal, 1930 to the 1980s". Gender & History. 25 (2): 355–375. doi:10.1111/1468-0424.12017. S2CID 143325110.

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]