Nitish Chandra Laharry (1892–1964) was an Indian lawyer, social worker and film producer from

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 ...

. He was the first person of

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

origin to be elected as the president of

Rotary International Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. Its stated mission is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through hefellowship of business, prof ...

and was the producer of the first motion picture of

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

, ''

Bilat Ferat ''Bilat Ferat'' বিলেত ফেরত (England Returned) also known as ''Bilet Pherat'', is a 1921 Bengali silent film directed by Nitish Chandra LaharryIMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online databa ...

''. It was during his presidency that Rotary International started its Youth wing, ''Interact Club''. The Government of India awarded him the third highest civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan, in 1963, for his contributions to society.

Biography

Nithish Chandra Laharry was born in 1892 in

, in the undivided

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

to a school teacher as one of his three sons. His early schooling was in Kolkata, after which he studied 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 ...

and at 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 ...

, from where he obtained his graduate and master's degrees in English literature. Later he also secured a degree in law from 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 ...

, winning the J. M. Tagore Medal for Law for academic excellence. During his college days, he was involved in literary activities and was the editor of a literary magazine which had

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...

, the

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

winner, as one of its contributors. He started his career as a lawyer 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 ...

and worked for four years, only to abandon the career to turn to film industry. He founded a studio and produced a motion picture about the Bengali diaspora in England, the first motion picture produced in Bengal, ''

''. An economic depression prompted him to switch to film distribution, and it was during this time he married Bindubala. Laharry joined the Kolkata chapter of Rotary International in 1926 and became its secretary the same year. His business travels took him to Mumbai in 1935, but he continued his association with Rotary International by becoming a member of the Mumbai chapter, and, on his return to Kolkata in 1939, he rejoined the Kolkata branch and became its president in 1944. The

Bengal famine of 1943 The Bengal famine of 1943 was a famine in the Bengal province of British India (present-day Bangladesh, West Bengal and eastern India) during World War II. An estimated 0.8 to 3.8 million Bengalis perished, out of a population of 60.3 millio ...

had already set in by that time and the organization, under his leadership, set up food canteens and free medical camps for the people affected by the famine. He also served as the vice chairman of the

Armed Forces Entertainment Armed Forces Entertainment (A.F.E) is the official United States Department of Defense (D.o.D) agency for providing entertainment to U.S. military personnel overseas. Armed Forces Entertainment hosts over 1,200 shows around the world each ye ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and, after the war, managed disbursement centres for the Government of India. In 1953, he was elected as the second vice president of Rotary International, served as the Rotary Information Counselor during 1955–56, and chaired the ''Asia Regional Conference'', in 1958, at Delhi, which had over 2900 participants from 21 countries, reportedly the largest till then. He was elected as the global president of the organization in 1962, thus becoming the first

to hold the position. His contributions were also reported behind the founding of ''Interact Club'', the youth wing of the organization. The Government of India awarded him the third highest civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan in 1963. He was also a recipient of the

National Order of Merit (France) An order of merit is conferred by a state, government or royal family on an individual in recognition of military or civil merit. Order of merit may also refer to: * FIFA Order of Merit, for significant contribution to association football * PDC O ...

and Order of Merit (Chile) and honorary doctorates from California College of Medicine and Baylor University, Texas. He died on 21 July 1964, survived by his two daughters; his wife had preceded him in death. Rotary Club of Kolkata honoured him by naming their children's library as ''Nitish Chandra Laharry Children's Library''.

Filmography

* 1921 : ''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laharry, Nitish Chandra Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in social work 1892 births 1964 deaths Bengali Hindus 20th-century Bengalis Indian social workers 20th-century Indian lawyers Indian lawyers Film producers from Kolkata Rotary International leaders St. Xavier's College, Kolkata alumni Scottish Church College alumni University of Calcutta alumni 20th-century Indian educators Social workers from West Bengal Social workers Scholars from Kolkata Bengali lawyers Educators from West Bengal

Biography

Filmography

See also

References