Mumtaz Begum (born Kalyani Ray Chowdhury; May 20, 1923June 30, 1967) was a Bengali language activist from

East Pakistan East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Scheme, One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India ...

. She was awarded

Ekushey Padak Ekushey Padak ( bn, একুশে পদক; lit. "Twentyfirst Award") is the second highest civilian award in Bangladesh, introduced in memory of the martyrs of the Bengali Language Movement of 1952. The award is given to recognize contribut ...

in 2012 by the

Government of Bangladesh The Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh ( bn, গণপ্রজাতন্ত্রী বাংলাদেশ সরকার — ) is the central executive government of Bangladesh. The government was constituted by the Con ...

for her role in language movement.

Background and education

Begum was born to Mohimchandra Ray, a district judge and later a justice of Kolkata High Court and Makhanmoti Devi, a school teacher. She was a niece of litterateur

Pramathanath Bishi Pramatha Nath Bishi (11 June 1901 – 10 May 1985) was an Indian writer, educationist, and parliamentarian from West Bengal. He was a member of the West Bengal Legislative Council (1962–1968) and a nominated member of the Rajya Sabha from 1972 ...

. In 1944, she was married to Abdul Mannaf, an official of Kolkata Civil Supply Office and a student of law at

Kolkata University 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 ...

. She passed the matriculation examination in 1938. Later she completed her bachelor's from

Bethune College Bethune College is a women's college located on Bidhan Sarani in Kolkata, India, and affiliated to the University of Calcutta. It is the oldest women's college in India. It was established as a girls' school in 1849, and as a college in 1879. ...

in 1942 and the BEd examination from

University of Dhaka The University of Dhaka (also known as Dhaka University, or DU) is a public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is the oldest university in Bangladesh. The university opened its doors to students on July 1st 1921. Currently i ...

in 1951.

Career

During the Bengali Language Movement on February 21, 1952, the first procession of women was led by Begum. She was imprisoned from February 1952 until May 1953. She served as the Headmistress of Anandamoyee Girls' High School and Ahmad Bawani Girls High School, Shishu Niketan.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Begum, Mumtaz 1923 births 1967 deaths Pakistani women activists University of Dhaka alumni Recipients of the Ekushey Padak Women school principals and headteachers