SIR ASUTOSH MOOKERJEE Asutosh Mookerjee is regarded as a great educationist and a great jurist of his time. The sixty years of his life saw Indian Renaissance growing into a powerful and all- _ embracing national awakening, particularly in the first * quarter of the 20th century, when for thirty-five years (1889-1924) he was the living spirit in the field of higher education at the University of Calcutta and for twenty years (1903-24) he was a judge of the Calcutta High Court, and, for a short period (1899-1903) he was a member of the Bengal Legislative Council and the Imperial Legislative Council. ‘Asutosh Mookerjee was born on 29 June 1864, as the first son of Dr. Ganga Prasad Mookerjee (d. 1889), the father, and Jagatta- rini Devi (d. 1914), the mother. The Mookerjees were a middle-class Brahmin family and came originally from the Hughli district. Dr. Ganga Prasad had settled down as a physician in south Calcutta, where, at 77 Russa Road, Asutosh was born. Dr. Ganga Prasad had a lucrative practice and was one of the first to write medical literature in the vernacular. To his father, Asutosh owed his love of learning and strength of character, to his mother his sturdy common sense and love of freedom, while an uncle, Radha Kanta Mookerjee, a Fellow of the University of Calcutta (1884), evidently roused, the interest of the gifted nephew in the University affairs. Asutosh was educated at first at the Chakraberia Children’s School (1869-72); then at home by a tutor for 2 years; next at the South Suburban School (1876-78); from where he passed the Entrance examination in 1879 to enter the Presidency College in 1880. He had a brilliant educational record, topped the lists in B.A. (1884) and M.A. (1885) in Mathematics, and won the highest honour of the University, the P.R.S. in Mathematics and Physics, in 1886. He took the B.L. degree in 1888, and, when already established in his career as @ Vakil, added to it the highest degree in law, Doctor of Law. As a student, he was prominent in the demonstration against the imprisonment of the national leader Surendra- ath Banerjea. Asutosh was married to Jogamaya Devi (who survived him by thirty years); and, in life, he came in close contact With the best men of the day in Bengal—with teachers like Gooroodas Banerjee, Sivanath Sastri, Principal C. H. Tawney, Professor H. M. Percival, with fellow-students Courtesy: Presidency a7 like B. Chakravarti, B. N. Seal, P. C. Roy, and later in course of his educational activities with the foremost scholars and educationists of India, of whom a number like Dinesh Chandra Sen, Biraj Kumar Majumdar, P. E. Hartog, S. Radhakrishnan and C. V. Raman, formed a closer circle. Asutosh Mookerjee was arrogantly simple in his mode of life and direct in his manners. The ordinary Bengali dress, dhoti, short coat, and chadar were what he wore on all ‘occasions. He would change these only when at the Bar and the Bench for the Indian court dress of trousers and chapkan. An appreciative and unfailing patron to scholars and a loving and sympathetic mentor to students, he was easily accessible to all. The “77 Russa Road” radiated cultural warmth and humane understanding all around even, as the masterful personality presiding there, with a heavy physique and formidable whiskers, earned, for his fearless fight against all wrong, the significant popular sobriquet, “Banglar Bagh’, i.e., ‘the Bengal Tiger’. Asutosh Mookerjee proudly cherished the orthodox Hindu traditions and, at the same time, the enlightened liberal values. He had drunk deep from the fountains of the East and the West; and thus counselled the graduates in his, Convocation Address (1907), “In your just admiration for all that is best in the Culture of the West, do not, under any circumstances, denationalise yourself.” He saw no reason, to visit Europe against orthodox injunctions, and yet, in spite of all orthodoxy, he was no believer in untouchabil- ity—nor would he shrink from reforms. In 1908, he gave his, eldest daughter, Kamala, who was a child-widow, in ‘marriage for the second time, in defiance of all orthodox opposition. Deep patriotism and national feelings inspired Asutosh Mookerje in his manifold activities, even though these lay ‘mainly outside the political arena, He was prominent in the student demonstration against Surendranath Banerjea's: imprisonment. Early in his career, he rejected Government service in the Education Department, as his European equals were to be given higher positions than he. Yet, he counted among his friends the best European educationists of the time, In 1906, when the storm of Swadeshi burst, he was the Vice-Chancellor of the Calcutta University and refused to take action against the protesting students at the Alumni Association Caleutta, Kolkata 700073behest of the Lt. Governor of East Bengal. He stood aloof, from the two phases of nationalist struggle (1905 and 1921), ‘when the agitation for the boycott of Western education, and schools and colleges swept the country; for “light”, he held, of the East and West should reach us through the Western gates and the Western system of education was to, be availed of for the purpose. He took advantage of the very nationalist movement (1905 onwards) to strengthen his, arms and give a national character and purpose to the University of Calcutta which he guided in that direction. ‘The crowning act in this respect was his resignation from the Vice-Chancellorship in 1923 with the historic declara- tion of defiance against Lord Lytton’s attempt at curbing. the autonomy of the University: “Freedom first, freedom second, freedom always—nothing less would satisfy me.” Political freedom was yet a distant goal, and Asutosh Mookerjee fought with constitutional means, and would march from strength to strength, in the democratic way— but under the leadership of the “intellectual aristocracy”, as he appeared to hold. Asutosh Mookerjee figured mainly in the field of education and academic activities. He was elected to the Senate and Syndicate of the University of Calcutta first in 1889; and in 1891 he pleaded, though unsuccessfully at the time, that Bengali, Hindi, Urdu, etc—rather all the ‘Modern Indian languages—should be included for study in the B.A. and M.A. courses. In 1904 he opposed Lord Curzon's Indian University Act of 1904 for increasing the European representation in the University bodies, though he was not opposed in toto, nor would he accord a welcome to, G. K. Gokhale’s Compulsory Primary Education Bill in the Imperial Legislature of the time. He was first called ‘upon to be the Vice-Chancellor of the Calcutta University ‘in 1906, and he continued to hold that high office tll 1914, transforming the University step by step, as an astute strategist and wise educationist, from a mere examining studies into one of universal studies; and finding an honoured place for the mother tongues in ‘that step- ‘mother’s hall’, Regulations were drawn up prescribing knowledge of the vernaculars as essential; Post-Graduate Faculties in Arts and Sciences were created for study and research, endowments were secured from patriotic Indians (T. Palit and Rash Bihari Ghosh in particular) for Indian scholars to be sent abroad for training in the higher branches of science; teaching of medicine and law was reorganised with emphasis on the practical aspects; re- search was emphasized as the higher academic value and Reprinted from: Dictionary of National Biography. Courtesy: Presidency Alumni As doctorates of Philosophy and Science were introduced as degrees to crown original researches; libraries and institutes were created, and by 1914 when Asutosh laid down the office, a real organ of national life and culture in India had emerged. ‘Asutosh continued to be at the helm of its affairs even though not in office, and, he was the leading spirit of the University Commission (Sadler Commission) that advo- cated further drastic progressive reforms in 1917, but to the recommendations of which the Government was cold. In 1921 he was appointed Vice-Chancellor for the second term; and the study of modern Indian vernaculars in the Post-Graduate Department was introduced now, and for the first time in an Indian University. His term was cut short, when the Government of the day wanted to impose conditions (1922) for financial assistance sought by the University. Asutosh resigned with the famous “freedom always” speech in 1923. A year later, he retired from the High Court, where he was held in equal honour for his learning and independence, as shown in the matter of the political trils.of the time. ‘Asutosh Mookerjee was a towering figure in the academic life of the country. Besides being the Vice- ‘Chancellor of the Calcutta University, he was the President for several terms of the Asiatic Society, Calcutta, and a ‘member of the Royal Asiatic Society, London, the Mathe- matical Society of Paris, and the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Indian Museum, of the Council of the Imperial (now National) Library, and of the Sanskrit Association. Honours were conferred on him from all quarters—KT., C.S.1. (1911) from the British Govern- ment; Fellowship of the Asiatic Societies of London, Paris, etc., ‘Saraswati’ by the Sanskrit Societies, ‘Sambuddhaga- machakravart’ by the Buddhist Sangha of India, Ceylon, etc., to mention only a few. ‘Asutosh’s contributions, besides judgements from the Bench and addresses to the Universities and learned bodies and articles in learned periodicals, included ‘Geometry of Conics’ (1892), ‘Law of Perpetuities’ (1899), ‘Arithmetic for Schools’ (1901) and ‘Jatiya Sahitya’ (1932, in Bengali). He died on 25 May 1924. [The Calcutta Review, July 1925, Caleutta 19; Lalit Chatterji and Shyama Prasad Mookerjee—Representative Ind ans, Calcuta, 1931; Dinesh Chandra Sen—Asutosh Smriti-Katha, Calcutta, 1936; Hundred years of the University of Caleutta, 1957; ‘Asutosh Mukhopadhyay Centenary Exhibition 1965 (National Library), Calcutta, 1965; Bibhas Ray Chaudhuri (Ed.)—Sit ‘Asutosh JanmaSata-Barsiki Smarak Grantha, Calcutta, 1964; Mani Bagchi—Sikshaguru Asutosh, Cacluta, 1968.) rat HALDAR 8 ociation Calcutta, Kolkata 700073Courtesy: Presidency Alumni Association Caleutta, Kolkata 700073,