Sir
''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as p ...
Gooroodas Banerjee (also Gurudas or Gurudas Bandyopadhyay, bn, স্যার গুরুদাস ব্যানার্জী; 26 January 1844 – 2 December 1918) was a Bengali Indian
judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...
of the
Calcutta High Court
The Calcutta High Court is the oldest High Court in India. It is located in B.B.D. Bagh, Kolkata, West Bengal. It has jurisdiction over the state of West Bengal and the Union Territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The High Court buildi ...
. In 1890, he also became the first Indian
Vice-Chancellor of University of Calcutta.
Education
![Guru_Das_Bannerjee](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1c/Guru_Das_Bannerjee.jpg)
He received his early education at the
Oriental Seminary
The Oriental Seminary started in 1829 by the educator Gour Mohan Addy, was the earliest privately run, first-rate school for children of Hindu parents in Kolkata (then known as Calcutta). It was open only to boys of Hindu parents. It was possibly ...
, and the Hare School at the Presidency College in Kolkata.
the General Assembly's Institution (now
Scottish Church College
Scottish Church College is a college affiliated by Calcutta University, India. It offers selective co-educational undergraduate and postgraduate studies and is the oldest continuously running Christian liberal arts and sciences college in A ...
), the
University of Calcutta
The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate State university (India), state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered ...
.
[''Some Alumni of Scottish Church College'' in ''175th Year Commemoration Volume''. Scottish Church College, April 2008. page 592] He obtained an M.A. with a focus on Mathematics in 1865, winning a University medal for attaining first place in his examinations, and passed the B.L. examination in 1866.
in 1877, he obtained a Doctorate in Law.
Career
Banerjee briefly taught as an Assistant Lecturer in Mathematics, before joining the General Assembly's Institution, now known as the
Scottish Church College
Scottish Church College is a college affiliated by Calcutta University, India. It offers selective co-educational undergraduate and postgraduate studies and is the oldest continuously running Christian liberal arts and sciences college in A ...
, as a Professor of Mathematics.
[''Staff List: General Assembly's Institution'' in ''175th Year Commemoration Volume''. Scottish Church College, April 2008. page 568]
Banerjee began his legal practice in Berhampore
Berhampore (, ) is a city and a municipality in the state of West Bengal, India. As of 2011 census, Berhampore urban agglomeration had a population of 305,609 and is the seventh largest city in West Bengal (after Kolkata, Asansol, Siliguri, D ...
, simultaneously teaching law and mathematics on a part-time basis at Berhmapore College. In 1872, he moved his legal practice to Kolkata
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
, representing clients such as the erstwhile Nawab of Murshidabad at the Calcutta High Court
The Calcutta High Court is the oldest High Court in India. It is located in B.B.D. Bagh, Kolkata, West Bengal. It has jurisdiction over the state of West Bengal and the Union Territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The High Court buildi ...
. In 1878, he was appointed to the Tagore Professorship of Law, and delivered the Tagore Law Lectures in the same year, on 'The Hindu Laws of Marriage and Stridhan'. The Tagore Law Lectures were later published as a legal text on Hindu marriage laws.
In 1888, Banerjee was appointed as a judge of the Calcutta High Court, retiring in 1904 from the Bench. In addition to serving as a judge, he was the first Indian to be appointed as the vice-chancellor of the University of Calcutta
The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate State university (India), state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered ...
, serving in that capacity from 1 January 1890 to 31 December 1892. He was knighted by the British government on 22 July 1904.The London Gazette, 22 July 1904
/ref> He was also the President of the Board of Mathematics and Sanskrit during this time.
He also became one of the teachers of Bengal National College of which the great freedom fighter, Aurobindo Ghosh
Sri Aurobindo (born Aurobindo Ghose; 15 August 1872 – 5 December 1950) was an Indian philosopher, yogi, maharishi, poet, and Indian nationalist. He was also a journalist, editing newspapers such as ''Vande Mataram''. He joined the ...
, was the principal. He made notable contributions to the spread of education by making sure that Narkeldanga High School got raised to secondary standard.
Legacy
There is a prestigious post in the Department of English of the University of Calcutta named after Sir Gooroodas Banerjee. The professor who holds this post comes to be known as Sir Gooroodas Banerjee Professor. There are two undergraduate colleges in Kolkata that commemorate his name, the Gurudas College
Gurudas College, established in 1956, is an undergraduate college in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. It is affiliated with the University of Calcutta. The name commemorates the legacy of Sir Gurudas Banerjee, the first Indian vice-chancellor of ...
and the Sir Gurudas Mahavidyalaya
Sir Gurudas Mahavidyalaya, (formerly named Gurudas College of Commerce) established in 1968, is an undergraduate college in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. It is affiliated with the University of Calcutta. It offers undergraduate course in science ...
. In memoirs of him, Sir Gurudas Banerjee Halt railway station
Sir Gurudas Banerjee Halt railway station is a small railway station in Narkeldanga. It serves the local areas of Narkeldanga and Phoolbagan in Kolkata, West Bengal
West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in ...
was established in sub urban railway of Kolkata.
Banerjee was quite well known for his devotion to his mother who was very orthodox in her ways of life. Every day, he would bring the sacred Ganges
The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...
water for her mother. She, on her deathbed, ordered her son Sir Gurudas to invite Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar CIE ( bn, ঈশ্বর চন্দ্র বিদ্যাসাগর; 26 September 1820 – 29 July 1891), born Ishwar Chandra Bandyopadhyay, was an Indian educator and social reformer of the nineteenth century. ...
to her obsequies. Vidyasagar had by this time become an object of attack by the orthodox Brahmin
Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (guru ...
s owing to his introduction of widow remarriage. Defying all social obstacles, Sir Gurudas invited Vidyasagar to her mother's funeral to fulfill her last wish.
References
External links
Sri Chinmoy Library
rediff Q and A
reference in Henry Scholberg's Encyclopedias of India
{{DEFAULTSORT:Banerjee, Gooroodas
Judges of the Calcutta High Court
Oriental Seminary alumni
Presidency University, Kolkata alumni
Scottish Church College alumni
University of Calcutta alumni
Scottish Church College faculty
University of Calcutta faculty
Vice Chancellors of the University of Calcutta
Knights Bachelor
Indian Knights Bachelor
1844 births
1918 deaths
19th-century Indian judges
20th-century Indian judges
19th-century Indian educational theorists
Scholars from West Bengal