List of Kolkata Presidencians
The following is the list of notable people associated with Presidency University, Kolkata.
Social reformers
- Durga Mohan Das, leader of the Brahmo Samaj
- Mahendranath Gupta, author of Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita
- Raja Dakshinaranjan Mukherjee, leader of the Young Bengal movement; Taluqdar of Shankarpore in the United Provinces
- Swami Vivekananda, an Indian Hindu monk, a chief disciple of the 19th-century Indian mystic Ramakrishna, key figure in the introduction of the Indian philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga to the Western world and is credited with raising interfaith awareness, bringing Hinduism to the status of a major world religion during the late 19th century and founded the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission.
Politicians
Presidents
- Dr. Rajendra Prasad, 1st President of India
- Abu Sayeed Chowdhury, 2nd President of Bangladesh
- Abu Sadat Mohammad Sayem, 6th President of Bangladesh
Governors
- Chandeshwar Prasad Narayan Singh, former Governor of Uttar Pradesh
- Lord Satyendra Prasanno Sinha, first Indian Governor of Bihar and Orissa
Prime Ministers
- Mohammad Ali Bogra, 3rd Prime Minister of Pakistan
- A.K. Fazlul Huq, Prime Minister of Bengal
Chief Ministers and Deputy Chief Ministers
- Jyoti Basu, 6th Chief Minister of West Bengal
- Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, 7th Chief Minister of West Bengal
- Bishnu Ram Medhi, Chief Minister of Assam
- Siddhartha Shankar Ray, 5th Chief Minister of West Bengal ; Education Minister of India; Governor of Punjab; Ambassador to U.S.A.
- Anugrah Narayan Sinha, 1st Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar
Ministers
- MJ Akbar, Minister of State for External Affairs, Government of India
- Bratya Basu, Playwright and actor; Higher Education Minister, Government of West Bengal
- Surendranath Banerjea, Minister in Bengal in the 1920s; 11th President of the Indian National Congress
- Bhupendra Nath Bose, Bar-at-Law, Under Secretary in the Council for the Secretary of State for India;Vice Chancellor, University of Calcutta, and President, Indian National Congress.
- Sarat Chandra Bose, Bengal Congress President; Works, Mines and Power Member, Government of India and first central cabinet Minister
- Subhas Chandra Bose, Mayor of Calcutta; 53rd President of the Indian National Congress; founder of the Forward Bloc;
- Somnath Chatterjee, Speaker of Lok Sabha, India
- Sachindra Chaudhuri, Finance Minister of India
- Pratap Chandra Chunder, Education and Social Welfare Minister, Government of India
- Chittaranjan Das, known as "Deshbandhu", founder of Swaraj Party
- Asim Dasgupta, Finance Minister, Government of West Bengal
- B.K. Handique, Union Minister of Mines & Development of North Eastern Region, GOI.
- Azizul Haque, B.L, C.I.E, K.C.S.I, D.Litt., former Education Minister, Government of Bengal
- Humayun Kabir, Education Minister, Government of India
- Fazlul Karim, Mayor of Cox's Bazar
- Amit Mitra, Finance Minister of West Bengal
- Syama Prasad Mukherjee, founder of Bharatiya Jana Sangh; Industry and Supply Member, Government of India
- Debi Prasad Pal, Minister of State for Finance, Government of India
- Abdur Rahim, Member of the Bengal Executive Council ; later President of the Central Legislative Assembly
- Saugata Roy, Minister of State for Urban Development, Government of India
- Ashoke Kumar Sen, Law and Justice Minister, Government of India
- Jatindra Mohan Sengupta, former Mayor of Calcutta; President of Indian National Congress
- Atish Chandra Sinha, Minister of State for Public Undertaking, Cottage and Small Scale Industries, Government of West Bengal & Zamindar of Kandi, Bengal
Members of Parliament and Legislative Assembly
- Nawaab Syed Shamsul Huda K.C.I.E., first Indian Muslim President of the reformed legislative council of undivided Bengal in 1921
- Pandit Yamuna Karjee, Member of the Bihar and Orissa Legislative Assembly
- Maharajadhiraja Sir Uday Chand Mahtab, Member of the Bengal Legislative Assembly, Member, Indian Constituent Assembly, 1946-47 & Maharajadhiraja Bahadur of Burdwan.
- Hirendranath Mukherjee, Member of Lok Sabha,Leader of the Opposition, India
- Arjun Kumar Sengupta, Member of Rajya Sabha
Maharajas and Zamindars
- Colonel H.H. Nripendra Narayan Bhup Bahadur, Maharaja of Coochbehar
- Raja Dakshinaranjan Mukherjee, Taluqdar of Shankarpore in the United Provinces
Members of Political Parties
- Anandamohan Bose, One of the earliest Indian political leaders during the British Raj.
- Ashim Chatterjee, former Naxalite leader
- Ullaskar Dutta, former member of Jugantar Party; freedom fighter, long-tortured inmate of Andaman cellular jail
- Atulkrishna Ghosh, member of the Anushilan Samiti
- Nolini Kanta Gupta, participated in the Alipore Bomb case; writer,Sree Aurobindo Ashram leader
- Santosh Rana, leader of Provisional Central Committee, Communist Party of India
- Mohit Sen, founder of the United Communist Party of India; member of the Communist Party of India
Lawyers
- Syed Ameer Ali, first Indian Law Lord of the Privy Council.
- Amin Ahmed, Chief Justice of the High Court of Dacca.
- Justice Gooroodas Banerjee, former Judge of the High Court of Calcutta.
- Pramada Charan Banerjee, Judge of the High Court of Allahabad.
- Monomohun Ghose, first practising Indian barrister of the Calcutta High Court.
- Sir Sarat Kumar Ghosh, I.C.S, Chief Justice of Jaipur and Kashmir.
- Kulada Charan Das Gupta, I.C.S, Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court
- Sadhan Chandra Gupta, former Advocate General of West Bengal.
- Justice Altamas Kabir, 39th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India.
- Sir Ashutosh Mookerjee, former Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court; five times Vice Chancellor of the University of Calcutta
- Justice Indira Banerjee, Judge, Supreme Court of India.
- Justice Sabyasachi Mukherjee, former Chief Justice of India
- Justice Radhabinod Pal Judge of the High Court of Calcutta; Vice-Chancellor, University of Calcutta
- Sudhamoy Pramanick, advocate; Indian independence activist; lifetime secretary of the Tili Samaj
- Brajkishore Prasad, lawyer; Zamindar of Shrinagar in Bihar
- Justice Ajit Nath Ray, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India
- Justice Subimal Chandra Roy, Judge, Supreme Court of India
- Gnanendramohan Tagore, first Asian barrister
- Sudhansu Kumar Das, I.C.S and Acting Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India
- Alak Chandra Gupta, Justice of the Supreme Court of India
Administrators
- Khan Bahadur Ahsanullah, IES, ADPI for Mohammedan Education, Bengal
- Anandaram Baruah, ICS, District Magistrate in Bengal
- Atul Chandra Chatterjee, ICS, former Indian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom
- Sib Chandra Deb, Deputy Collector, Government of Bengal
- Gurusaday Dutt, ICS, Secretary, Local Self Government and Public Health Secretary, Government of Bengal
- Behari Lal Gupta, ICS, former Dewan of Baroda
- Sukumar Sen, ICS, Chief Election Commissioner of India
- Ranadhir Chandra Sarma Sarkar, IAS, Law Secretary, GOI,Chairman,UPSC
- Nitish Sengupta, IAS, Secretary, Department of Revenue, GOI
- Arjun Kumar Sengupta, Member-Secretary of Planning Commission; Chairman, National Commission on Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector
- Jawhar Sircar, Secretary, Ministry of Culture, GOI
- Himachal Som, IFS, Indian Ambassador to Italy
- Satyendranath Tagore, ICS, District and Sessions Judge in Gujarat
Officers of the Armed Forces
- Air Marshal Subroto Mukerjee, first Indian Chief of the Air Staff of the Indian Air Force
- Admiral Adhar Kumar Chatterji, first Indian officer to hold the rank of full Admiral in the Indian Navy
Industrialists
- Basant Kumar Birla, Chairman of B.K. Birla Group
- Khuda Buksh, pioneer of insurance in Bangladesh
- Ramgopal Ghosh, founder of R.G. Ghosh and Co.
- Rama Prasad Goenka, Chairman Emeritus of RPG Group
- Sir Rajendra Nath Mookerjee, founder of Indian Iron and Steel Company at Burnpur; architect of the Victoria Memorial in Kolkata
- Bipradas Pal Chowdhury, founder of Gayabari Tea Estate
- Prafulla Chandra Roy, founder of Bengal Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals
Academicians
Languages
Bengali
- Muhammad Shahidullah, writer and linguist
- Madan Mohan Tarkalankar, textbook writer
- Arun Mukhopadhyay Author
English
- Subodh Chandra Sengupta, former Principal of College and English literary scholar; awarded Padma Bhushan 3rd highest civilian honor of the Government of India
- Ahmad Ali, British Council Visiting Professor of English, the National Central University, Nanking
- Jasodhara Bagchi, former Chairperson, West Bengal Women's Commission, Calcutta
- Swapan Kumar Chakravorty, former Director-General, National Library, Kolkata
- Sukanta Chaudhuri, Emeritus Professor of English, Jadavpur University, Calcutta
- Supriya Chaudhuri, Professor of English, Jadavpur University, Calcutta
- Malabika Sarkar, former Vice-Chancellor, Presidency University
- Peary Charan Sarkar, former Headmaster, Hare School, Calcutta
- Nabaneeta Dev Sen, former Professor of Comparative Literature, Jadavpur University, Calcutta
- Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, professor, Department of English and Comparative Literature, Columbia University, USA
Sanskritists
- Kshetresa Chandra Chattopadhyaya, former Professor of Sanskrit at Allahabad University
- Bhudev Mukhopadhyay, CIE, former Director of Public Instructions
- Haraprasad Shastri, former Principal of Sanskrit College, Calcutta
Mathematical Sciences
Mathematicians
- Amiya Charan Banerjee, former Vice Chancellor of Allahabad University
- Ananda Mohan Bose, mathematician; first Indian Wrangler at the University of Cambridge
- Anil Kumar Gain, mathematician and statistician from the University of Cambridge; Fellow of the Royal Society
- Azizul Haque, contributed to the mathematical formula for Henry Classification System of fingerprinting still widely used in the world
- Radhanath Sikdar, first person to calculate the height of Mount Everest
Statisticians
- Anil Kumar Gain, mathematician and statistician from the University of Cambridge; Fellow of the Royal Society
- Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis, Founder-Director, Indian Statistical Institute, Calcutta
- Samarendra Nath Roy, was a Professor of Statistics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
- Sudipto Banerjee, Professor and Chair, Department of Biostatistics at University of California, Los Angeles
- Bhramar Mukherjee, Chair, Department of Biostatistics University of Michigan. Chair Elect, Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies.
Natural Sciences
Biologists
- Joyoti Basu, cell biologist, N-Bios laureate
- Birendra Bijoy Biswas, Botanist and molecular biologist, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar laureate
- Swapan Kumar Datta, Plant molecular biologist and bio-technologist, Vice chancellor of Visva Bharati
- Siddhartha Roy, structural biologist, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar laureate
- Mahendralal Sarkar, founder, Indian Association for the Cultivation of Sciences, Calcutta
Chemists
- Upendranath Brahmachari, first to synthesise urea stibamine
- Amar Nath Bhaduri,Biochemist, studies on UDP-glucose 4-epimerase, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize recipient
- Mihir Chowdhury - physical chemist, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar laureate
- Bidyendu Mohan Deb - chemical physicist, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar laureate
- Biman Bagchi - theoretical physicist, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar laureate
- Sumit Bhaduri - organic chemist, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar laureate
- Tushar Kanti Chakraborty, organic chemist, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar laureate
- Jnan Chandra Ghosh, Director of the IISc Bangalore, the IIT Kharagpur, the Vice Chancellor of Calcutta University, and the Director-general of Industries and Supplies, Government of India.
Computer Scientists
- Sanghamitra Bandyopadhyay, first woman Director of Indian Statistical Institute
Engineers
- Fazlur Rahman Khan, structural engineer; designed Chicago's 100-story John Hancock Center and 110-story Sears Tower
Geologists
- Rakhaldas Bandyopadhyay; Paleographist; archeologist; a household name as one of the discoverers of Mahenjodaro civilization.
- Kshitindramohan Naha, geologist and Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar laureate
- Subir Kumar Ghosh, geologist and Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar laureate
Physicists
- Meghnad Saha, discovered the Saha ionization equation
- Satyendranath Bose, discovered Bose–Einstein statistics along with Albert Einstein; Bosons; Padma Vibhushan
- Indrani Bose, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Bose Institute, Kolkata
- Arnab Rai Choudhuri, solar physicist
- Chandan Dasgupta, FNA, condensed matter physicist
- Anita Mehta, eminent condensed matter physicist, faculty at S.N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, India
- Sisir Kumar Mitra,FRS, radio-physicist, namesake of a crater on the moon
- Biswa Ranjan Nag, physicist, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar laureate
- Amal Kumar Raychaudhuri, physicist, known for Raychaudhuri's equation in general theory of relativity; former Professor and Head of Physics, Presidency College
- Amitava Raychaudhuri, FNA, particle physicist
- Somak Raychaudhury, Eminent astrophysicist, Director of IUCAA
- Sudhansu Datta Majumdar, Theoretical Physicist, Known for Majumdar–Papapetrou Solution
- , Former Director and Professor of Physics, Bose Institute, Kolkata
- Probir Roy, particle physicist, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar laureate
- Sankar Das Sarma, eminent theoretical condensed matter physicist and Richard E Prange Chaired Professor at University of Maryland, US
- Ashoke Sen, eminent physicist; has contributed to string theory, winner of the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics
- Bikash Sinha, Padma Bhushan, Director, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, Calcutta
- Palash Baran Pal, Particle Physicist, well known for his contributions to Bengali literature, receiver of Rabindra Smriti Puroshkar
- Chanchal Majumdar, Indian condensed matter physicist, Founder director of S.N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences.
Psychologists
- P. K. Roy, first Indian Principal of Presidency College, Calcutta
Social Sciences
Anthropologists
- Surajit Chandra Sinha, former Vice Chancellor, Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan; Maharajkumar of Susanga, Bengal
- Nirmal Kumar Bose; he was also a leading sociologist, urbanist, Gandhian, and educationist. Also active in the Indian freedom struggle with Mahatma Gandhi;served as Gandhi's private secretary in 1940's. Studied also Honors in Geology.
Economists
- Abhijit Banerjee,Professor at Massachusetts institute of technology;Winner of the Nobel prize in Economics in 2019
- Amartya Sen, Master, Trinity College, Cambridge ; winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, 1998
- Amitava Bose, former Director, Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta
- Amiya Bagchi, Chancellor, Tripura University, Agartala
- Anindya Sen, Professor of Economics, Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta
- Bibek Debroy, former Director, Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies, New Delhi
- Bimal Jalan, former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India
- Debraj Ray, Julius Silver Professor of Economics, New York University
- , Professor of Economics, Boston University
- Isher Judge Ahluwalia, Chairperson, Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations
- Maitreesh Ghatak, Professor of Economics, London School of Economics
- Mihir Rakshit, Professor, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata
- Pranab Bardhan, Professor at University of California at Berkeley
- Radhakamal Mukerjee, former Vice-Chancellor of University of Lucknow
- Ratan Lal Basu, Fiction writer in English & Bengali, Indologist and author of books on ancient Indian Economics
- Sugata Marjit, former Director, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta, Vice-Chancellor, University of Calcutta; author.
- Sukhamoy Chakravarty, Professor of Economics, Delhi School of Economics, Delhi; was a key architect of the Five-Year plans of India; Chakravarty Committee on Monetary Policy
Historians
- A.F. Salahuddin Ahmed, Professor of History, Dhaka University; awarded the Ekushe Padak by the Government of Bangladesh
- Rakhaldas Bandyopadhyay, discoverer of Mohenjodaro, the principal site of the Harappa Culture
- Sugata Bose, Gardiner Professor of Oceanic History and Affairs, Harvard University, US
- Dipesh Chakrabarty, Lawrence A. Kimpton Professor of South Asian History, University of Chicago
- Barun De, former Chairman, West Bengal Heritage Commission.
- Dwijendra Narayan Jha, Professor of History, University of Delhi
- Romesh Chandra Majumdar, former Vice Chancellor, University of Dacca
- Rajat Kanta Ray, Vice Chancellor, Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan
- Hemchandra Raychaudhuri, Charmichael Professor of Ancient Indian History and Culture, University of Calcutta
- Tapan Raychaudhuri, Padma Bhushan, Ad Hominem Professor of Indian History and Civilization, University of Oxford
- Jadunath Sarkar, Kt.,Vice Chancellor, University of Calcutta
- Tanika Sarkar, Professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University
- Sumit Sarkar, Professor of History, University of Delhi
- Susobhan Chandra Sarkar, Professor and Head of Department of History, Presidency College, Calcutta
- Gautam Bhadra, Member of Subaltern
- Ranajit Guha, Founder of Subaltern
Political Scientists
- Partha Chatterjee, Professor of Anthropology, Columbia University, New York, US
- Sudipta Kaviraj, Professor and Chair of the Department of Political Science, Columbia University, New York
Writers
Journalists
- Ashok Malik, Press Secretary to the President Of India
- Krishna Mohan Banerjee, publisher of Inquirer
- Pramatha Chaudhuri, former editor of Sabuj Patra
- Rasik Krishna Mallick, former editor, Jnananwesan
- Rudrangshu Mukherjee, Opinions Editor, The Telegraph
- Udayan Mukherjee, Managing Editor, CNBC India
- Pritish Nandy, former editor, Illustrated Weekly of India
- Akshay Chandra Sarkar, former editor, Sadharani
Poets, novelists and Non-Fiction Writers
- Rabindranath Tagore,Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913
- Manik Bandopadhyay, novelist
- Rajnarayan Basu, writer and Brahmo Samaj pioneer; maternal grandfather of Sri Aurobindo.
- Rajsekhar Basu, studied chemistry; novelist, published using the nom-de-plume "Parasuram".
- Samit Basu, novelist
- Sasthi Brata, writer
- Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, poet and novelist
- Sanjib Chandra Chattopadhyay, writer, brother of Bankim Chandra
- Shakti Chattopadhyay, poet
- Jibanananda Das, poet
- Henry Louis Vivan Derozio, poet
- Michael Madhusudan Dutt, poet
- Shankha Ghosh, poet
- Shahidullah Kaiser, winner of Bangla Academy Award
- Peary Chand Mitra, novelist; author of the first true Bengali novel, Alaaler ghorer dulal
- Acharya Kuber Nath Rai, writer of Hindi literature
- Dwijendralal Ray, poet, playwright and musician
- Sukumar Ray, poet and humourist, Printing Technologist
- Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury, writer
- Bhabendra Nath Saikia, novelist
- Jyotirindranath Tagore, poet and novelist
- Alokeranjan Dasgupta Bengali poet; Goethe Award from
- Palash Baran Pal, studied Physics; writer, poet and linguist. Winner of Rabindra Smriti Puroshkar
- Ramapada Chowdhury, Indian novelist and short story writer.
- Anuradha Roy, Indian novelist, journalist and editor
- Devapriya Roy, Indian novelist.
Artists and Musicians
- Pritam Chakraborty, Bollywood music director; sound engineer
- Devajyoti Ray, artist
- Dilipkumar Roy, singer
- Atulprasad Sen, composer & singer of devotional and love songs of his own genre
Filmmakers, Theatre Personalities and Actors
- Pramathesh Barua, actor and director
- Suman Ghosh, Filmmaker
- Chhabi Biswas, actor
- Bikash Roy, Actor
- Ashok Kumar, winner of the Dadasaheb Phalke Award
- Dinabandhu Mitra, author of Nildarpan
- Srijit Mukherji, filmmaker
- Satyajit Ray, eminent Indian film director; winner of an Oscar for Lifetime Achievement
- Aparna Sen, actress
- Subrata Sen, filmmaker, author
- Dhritiman Chatterjee, actor
Sportspersons
- Vece Paes, member of the bronze medal-winning Indian hockey team at the Munich Olympics
Faculty Members
- Syed Ameer Ali, former Judge of the High Court of Calcutta
- Bhabatarak Bhattacharyya, structural biologist
- Charu Chandra Bhattacharya, physicist
- Katyayanidas Bhattacharya, philosopher and former professor, Department of Philosophy, Presidency College, Calcutta
- Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose, scientist
- Prafulla Chandra Ghosh chemist and politician
- Rabindra Kumar Das Gupta, former Director, National Library, Calcutta
- Bhabatosh Datta, Finance Secretary, Government of West Bengal
- Bishnu Dey, poet
- Anil Kumar Gain, mathematician and statistician
- M.S. Krishnan, Director General of the Geological Survey of India.
- David Lester Richardson, former Principal of Hindu College, Calcutta
- Acharya Prafulla Chandra Roy, chemist
- Dipak Banerjee, former Head of the Department of Economics of Presidency College, Kolkata
- William Trego Webb, author and teacher