Azizunnessa Khatun ( bn, আজিজুন্নেছা খাঁতুন; 1864–1940) was a

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

poet, writer, and philanthropist.

Early life and education

Azizunnessa Khatun was born in 1864 to a Bengali Muslim family in Jamalpur,

24 Parganas 24 Parganas district (''cabbiś pargaṇā jēlā'') is a former district of the Indian state of West Bengal. The district was split into two districts — North 24 Parganas district and South 24 Parganas district, with effect from 1 March 1 ...

Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William and later Bengal Province, was a subdivision of the British Empire in India. At the height of its territorial jurisdiction, it covered large parts of what is now South Asia and ...

. Her father, Mir Chand Ali, was a Police Inspector, and their ancestral home was in Goadi,

Nadia district Nadia () is a district in the state of West Bengal, India. It borders Bangladesh to the east, North 24 Parganas and Hooghly districts to the south, Purba Bardhaman to the west, and Murshidabad to the north. Nadia district is highly influentia ...

. Khatun's early education began at home where she was taught the

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

, English, and

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languages. During her teenage years, Khatun married Moqaddesul Haque of Banshdaha. Haque encouraged his wife to continue her education, and so she enrolled at the

St. Xavier's College A multitude of schools and universities have been named after St. Francis Xavier, a Spanish Roman Catholic saint and co-founder of the Society of Jesus. This page lists notable educational institutions named after St. Xavier, arranged by country a ...

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

where she studied Bengali and English under Professor Mairajuddin.

Personal life

After the death of her first husband, Moqaddesul Haque, Khatun married Maulvi Qazi Hamidullah Khan, the erstwhile ''

Zamindar A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as a ...

of Tetulia''. After the latter's death, Khatun married Qazi Lutfur Rahman of Banshdaha, though he too died soon after.

Career

Khatun was a philanthropist. She funded the digging of ponds so that villagers could have access to clean water. She also founded a girls

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

. In 1884, Khatun translated a work by the Anglo-Irish poet Thomas Parnell into Bengali, which she titled ''Udasīn Kabbo''. Her works were published in a number of magazines.

Death

Khatun died in

Basirhat Basirhat is a city of West Bengal, India. It is located on the banks of the Ichamati (Ichhamati) River. Geography Location Basirhat is located at . Area overview The area shown in the map is a part of the Ichhamati-Raimangal Plain, located ...

in 1940. One of her sons through Hamidullah Khan was Maulvi Qazi Mohammad Minnatullah Khan, a distinguished member of the Qazis of Tetulia.Mitra, Satishchandra (1922). ''Joshohor-Khulnar Itihash'', "History of Jessore-Khulna", Volume 2, p. 1037. Kolkata, India: Gurudash Chottopaddhay and Sons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khatun, Azizunnessa 1864 births 1940 deaths 19th-century Bengali poets 20th-century Bengali poets 19th-century translators Bengali female poets Translators from English 19th-century women writers People from Nadia district St. Xavier's College, Kolkata alumni Writers from British India People from the Bengal Presidency