Kundan Lal (1893 – 1966) was an Indian businessman,
freedom fighter,
philanthropist
Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...
and founder of
Kundan Vidya Mandir, one of the first girls' schools in
Ludhiana.
Early life
Kundan Lal was born in the year 1893 in
Ludhiana, Punjab
Ludhiana ( ) is the most populous and the largest city in the Indian state of Punjab. The city has an estimated population of 1,618,879 2011 census and distributed over , making Ludhiana the most densely populated urban centre in the state. I ...
, to a Patwari father. He completed his BSc degree from Government College,
Punjab University, Lahore, in pre-partition India. He was directly admitted to the Provincial Civil Service in 1915 and appointed as a Sub Divisional Magistrate in
Nagpur. In 1920, he met
Jawaharlal Nehru during the
non-cooperation movement was launched by the
Congress Party
The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...
.
Freedom Fighter
In 1926 Kundan Lal joined the
Congress Party
The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...
to support
Indian independence and hosted the landmark
All India States People Conference
All or ALL may refer to:
Language
* All, an indefinite pronoun in English
* All, one of the English determiners
* Allar language (ISO 639-3 code)
* Allative case (abbreviated ALL)
Music
* All (band), an American punk rock band
* ''All'' (Al ...
Ludhiana, in February 1939, better known as the “Ludhiana Session”.
Philanthropy
With India's independence in 1947, Kundan Lal turned his attention to educating a generation of Indians. He started a charitable trust, Shri Kundanlal Trust, and donated most of his assets to it. He started
Kundan Vidya Mandir in 1941, initially as a girls-only school, and converted to a co-educational school around 1958.
Humanitarian
On a trip to
Vienna, Austria, for a medical procedure in 1938 he saw the plight of
Jews under
Hitler's tyranny and helped rescue 14 Jews out of Austria.
References
{{Authority control
Indian rebels
1893 births
1966 deaths