Lady Brabourne College


Lady Brabourne College is one of the top institutions for women's education in Kolkata, India. The college admits undergraduates and post-graduates, and awards degrees from the University of Calcutta. It is a state government administered college and is in one of the more cosmopolitan localities of the city.

History

Lady Brabourne College was established in July 1939 at a rented house in Park Circus in Calcutta, following the initiative of the then Prime Minister of Bengal, A. K. Fazlul Huq. It was named after Doreen, Baroness Brabourne, an Anglo-Irish aristocrat who was the wife of His Excellency The 5th Baron Brabourne, the then Governor of Bengal. Lord Brabourne died on 23 February 1939. Sir John Herbert, the next Governor, laid down the foundation stone of the college on 26 August 1939. The college had 50 percent reserved seats for Muslim women and the rest for Hindus, Parsees, Sikhs, Jains and other ethnic communities. The hostel facility was kept exclusively for Muslims. The college started admitting Hindu students due to shortage of Muslim students. It has since become difficult for Muslim students to get admission to the college according to the All India Minority Association. In 2017 the college along with others affiliated with the University of Calcutta were given permission to provide PhD to their students.

Notable alumnae and faculty