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Qazi Motahar Hossain (30 July 1897 – 9 October 1981) was a Bangladeshi writer, scientist, statistician, chess player, and journalist. Hossain was a pioneer educationalist of
Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
. He did original research in
statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ''wikt:Statistik#German, Statistik'', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of ...
and pioneered its education in Bangladesh both as a faculty and administrator. As one of the early faculties of
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 ...
, he was vigorously active in the cultural circles that grew around it. As a Dhaka-centric literary figure in late
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 ...
, a period marked by communality and religious sentiment, Hossain and his literary group ''Shikha'' distinguished themselves as proponents of communal harmony and rationalism. He was among the sceptical intellectuals who warned of the consequences of the short-lived state of
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
. On several occasions, he vocally criticized Pakistani government policies, most importantly on the state language question.


Early life and education

Hossain was born to Qazi Gaohar Uddin Ahmed and Tasirunnesa, at his maternal home, Lakshmipur village, in
Kushtia District Kushtia District ( bn, কুষ্টিয়া জেলা, pronunciation: ''kuʃʈia'') is a district in the Khulna administrative division of western Bangladesh. Kushtia is the second largest municipality in Bangladesh and the eleventh l ...
, in the then
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 ...
. He passed his childhood years at his father's village Bagmara in Rajbari, a district adjacent to Kushtia. He received his earliest education from his father and from the village primary school. Hossain entered Kushtia High School, distant from his home, for Secondary studies. During his time in Kushtia, Hossain, coming from a relatively poor family, supported himself by various scholarships, lodged at nearby homes as house tutors and later settled at a hostel. Among the teachers, he specially later recalled Jyotindranath Roy and Jatindra Mohan Biswas. During his years at the school, Jyotindranath Roy, an accomplished teacher of Mathematics and Sciences, laid Hossain's foundation in
algebra Algebra () is one of the broad areas of mathematics. Roughly speaking, algebra is the study of mathematical symbols and the rules for manipulating these symbols in formulas; it is a unifying thread of almost all of mathematics. Elementary a ...
,
geometry Geometry (; ) is, with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. It is concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is c ...
,
conic section In mathematics, a conic section, quadratic curve or conic is a curve obtained as the intersection of the surface of a cone with a plane. The three types of conic section are the hyperbola, the parabola, and the ellipse; the circle is a specia ...
and
mechanics Mechanics (from Ancient Greek: μηχανική, ''mēkhanikḗ'', "of machines") is the area of mathematics and physics concerned with the relationships between force, matter, and motion among physical objects. Forces applied to objects r ...
. Mr. Roy, recognizing Hossain's interest in mathematics, introduced the mechanics course solely for him. In 1915, Hossain passed Entrance from there. After passing entrance, already his interest in Science and Mathematics confirmed, Hossain went to Presidency College in
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 ...
for I Sc. There he was highly impressed by eminent teachers like Praphulla Chandra Ghosh (English), Mr. Sterling (English),
Prafulla Chandra Roy Sir Prafulla Chandra Ray, CIE, FNI, FRASB, FIAS, FCS (also spelled Prafulla Chandra Rây and Prafulla Chandra Roy; bn, প্রফুল্ল চন্দ্র রায় ''Praphulla Chandra Rāy''; 2 August 1861 – 16 June 1944 ...
(
chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...
). He, however, transferred himself to
Rajshahi College Rajshahi College ( bn, রাজশাহী কলেজ ''Rajshahi Kôlej'') is the third oldest institution of higher education in Bangladesh. Established in 1873 in Rajshahi city, it is the third oldest college in Bangladesh after Dhaka Col ...
, from where he completed his I Sc in 1917, in the middle of the academic year. In his college years, beside his studies, Hossain excelled in sports like
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
, tennis, etc. In 1917, Hossain arrived in
Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...
, his first visit to the town where he would spend rest of his life, and got admitted to
Dhaka College Dhaka College ( bn, ঢাকা কলেজ also known as DC) is the oldest secular educational institution of Bangladesh located in Dhaka. It offers higher secondary education ( HSC). It has Honours and Masters programs as well which are aff ...
for his B A in Mathematics and Physics. Here he found W. A. Jenkins (Physics), Wrangler Bhupati Mohan Sen (Mathematics), Bankim Das Banerjee (Mathematics) and others as teachers. In 1919, he was awarded BA (honors) from this college. Hossain passed M A in physics in 1921 from the same college. In 1921, the
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 ...
, was founded, where Hossain would spend the rest of his life, serving various roles; that year, Hossain, still a student of M A at Dhaka College, preparing for final exams, joined the newly founded university as demonstrator (junior lecturer) of physics. The same year, prominent physicist
Satyendra Nath Bose Satyendra Nath Bose (; 1 January 1894 – 4 February 1974) was a Bengali mathematician and physicist specializing in theoretical physics. He is best known for his work on quantum mechanics in the early 1920s, in developing the foundation for ...
joined the university as a
reader A reader is a person who reads. It may also refer to: Computing and technology * Adobe Reader (now Adobe Acrobat), a PDF reader * Bible Reader for Palm, a discontinued PDA application * A card reader, for extracting data from various forms of ...
of physics; Hossain got intimate with Bose as colleague and Bose also quickly recognized Hossain's genius. During his preparation of M A examination, Hossain recalled, Bose provided critical inputs; their co-operation would continue in later years and Bose would leave formative influence on Hossain's career. Bose, now head of the department of physics, encouraged Hossain to pursue higher study in
statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ''wikt:Statistik#German, Statistik'', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of ...
, a subject only getting its foothold in
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, under premier Indian statistician,
Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis OBE, FNA, FASc, FRS (29 June 1893– 28 June 1972) was an Indian scientist and statistician. He is best remembered for the Mahalanobis distance, a statistical measure, and for being one of the members of the fir ...
. Hossain accepted the offer and travelled to
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 ...
, Bose himself accompanying him to introduce Hossain to Mahalanobis, to study at Mahalanobis's newly founded
Indian Statistical Institute Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) is a higher education and research institute which is recognized as an Institute of National Importance by the 1959 act of the Indian parliament. It grew out of the Statistical Laboratory set up by Prasanta ...
. Hossain returned to Dhaka, in 1938, with a diploma in statistics from Indian Statistical Institute and pioneered the subject in Bangladesh. Upon returning from Indian Statistical Institute, Hossain concentrated on statistics, both as an educator and a self-taught researcher at University of Dhaka. While at Indian Statistical Institute, Hossain learned about balanced incomplete block design, and then endeavoured a thesis, under informal supervision of Bose, who was working on related topics then: counting possibility of certain balanced incomplete block design configurations by trial method. He received a doctorate for this work.


Career


Teaching

Qazi Motahar Hossain joined the newly established University of Dhaka in 1921, still a student of M A at Dhaka College, as demonstrator of physics. Two years later, in 1923, he was promoted to assistant-lecturer. Spearheaded by Hossain, University of Dhaka introduced Masters in Statistics, in 1948; Hossain proudly reminisced that University of Dhaka preceded the much older
Presidency College Calcutta Presidency University, Kolkata (formerly known as Presidency College, Kolkata) is a second major public state aided research university located in College Street, Kolkata. Considered as one of best colleges when Presidency College was affili ...
in this particular course. He retired from Dhaka University in 1961. Hossain founded the Institute of Statistical Research and Training (ISRT), University of Dhaka, in 1964, and served as founder-director until 1966. University of Dhaka appointed him Professor Emeritus in 1969. In 1975, after the liberation of Bangladesh, he was appointed the National Professor of Bangladesh, the position he decorated until his death, in 1981. He was a founder fellow of
Bangladesh Academy of Sciences Bangladesh Academy of Sciences is an academic forum for Bangladeshi scientists and technologists. Established in 1973, it aims to fulfill the role of promoting research and development of sciences in Bangladesh. History After the partition of ...
.


Activism

In the 1920s and 1930s a Dhaka-based literary organization, '' Muslim Sahitya Samaj'', comprising mainly Bengali-Muslim intellectuals, initiated a movement called '' Buddhir Mukti Andolon'' (Freedom of thought movement). Hossain, through his friend Kazi Abdul Odud, got involved. Unlike the contemporary literary atmosphere of Bengal, mainly dominated by religious partisan spirit, Muslim Sahitya Samaj and their proceeding '' Shikha'' upheld values like rationalism, communal harmony, religious tolerance. Though unpopular among the masses, the Shikha group proved to be distinctively liberal and radical: they even went as far as criticizing the
Caliphate A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...
system, a very unusual and bold feat during that time. Hossain edited two issues of ''Shikha''. He wrote for The Muazzin, the journal of Khademul Insan Samity. Within few years of Pakistan's formation, the nation's opinion got divided over the state language question. Hossain defended the case of Bangla among other leading intellectuals.


Chess

An accomplished
chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...
player, Motahar Hossain was the all India chess champion seven times. He took the lead organizing chess in Bangladesh. He founded the All Pakistan National Chess Federation in 1969. After independence, he established Bangladesh Daba Sangha, which became the
Bangladesh Chess Federation Bangladesh Chess Federation is the national federation for Chess and is responsible for governing the sport in Bangladesh. Benazir Ahmed is the President of Bangladesh Chess Federation. Syed Shahabuddin Shamim is the General Secretary of Banglades ...
in 1974.


Family and personal life

In 1920, still a student, Hossain married Sajeda Khatun. They had eleven children together, some of them would be prominent figures later: daughters Zobaida Khatun, Obaida Khatun, Khurshida Khatun, Zaheda Khatun,
Sanjida Khatun Sanjida is a Bangladeshi feminine given name. Notable people with the name include: * Sanjida Islam Sanjida Islam ( bn, সানজিদা ইসলাম) (born 1 April 1996) is a Bangladeshi cricketer who plays for the Bangladesh women's ...
, Fahmida Khatun, Mahmuda Khatun and sons (two died in childhood),
Qazi Anwar Hussain Qazi Anwar Hussain (19 July 1936 – 19 January 2022) was a Bangladeshi writer who mainly penned spy thriller, detective and adventure based novels, most of which are adaptations translated from or heavily influenced by foreign literature. Ear ...
, and Qazi Mahbub Hossain.


Death and legacy

He died in Dhaka on 9 October 1981. A postage stamp was published by Bangladesh Postal Department to respect his contributions.


Works

* Shanchayan (1937) *
Nazrul , pseudonym = bn, ধূমকেতু, Dhūmketu , image = Nazrul.jpg , image_size = , caption = Nazrul in Chittagong, 1926 , birth_date = 11 ''Joiṣṭhyô'', 1306 '' Bônggabdô ...
Kabya Porichiti (Introduction to Nazrul's Poetry) (1955) * Gonit Shastrer Itihas (History of Mathematics) (1970) * Alok Bigyan (
Optics Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behaviour of visible, ultraviole ...
) (1974) * Nirbachito Probondho (Collected Essays) (1976) He contributed to the implementation of
logic Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from premises ...
, lucidity and simplicity of language and clarity in his writings. His first published book ''Shancharan'' was praised by
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 ...
.
Bangla Academy The Bangla Academy ( bn, বাংলা একাডেমি, ) is an autonomous institution funded by the Bangladesh government to foster the Bengali language, literature and culture, to develop and implement national language policy and to d ...
has published his complete works in four volumes. He had also given many speeches in many occasions and written many biographical notes. A collection of his eighteen biographical essays was published in 2004 under the title ''Smritikatha'' by Qazi Motahar Hossain Foundation. The foundation has also reprinted his ''Gonit Shastrer Itihas'' in the same year.


Awards

* Bangla Academy Literary Award (1966) * Honorary DSc from
Dhaka University 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 ...
(1974) * Nasir Uddin Swarna Padak (Golden Plaque) (1977) * Swadhinota Dibas Purashkar (
Independence Day Award The Independence Day Award ( bn, স্বাধীনতা পদক), also termed Independence Award ( bn, স্বাধীনতা পুরস্কার), Swadhinata Padak, and Swadhinata Puroskar, is the highest state award given by t ...
) (1979) * Mukta Dhara Shahitya Purashkar (1980)


References


External links


Institute of Statistical Research and Training
Home Page
Postage Stamp representing Qazi Motahar Hossain
by Bangladesh Post Office. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hossain, Qazi Motahar 1897 births 1981 deaths Bangladeshi male writers Bangladeshi physicists Bangladeshi journalists Bangladeshi scientists Recipients of the Independence Day Award Fellows of Bangladesh Academy of Sciences Presidency University, Kolkata alumni University of Calcutta alumni Rajshahi College alumni Dhaka College alumni Recipients of Bangla Academy Award People from Kushtia District 20th-century journalists Bengali writers Bengali Muslims