Radharaman Mitra (23 February 1897 – 7 February 1992) was a revolutionary involved with

Meerut Conspiracy Case The Meerut Conspiracy Case was a controversial court case that was initiated in British Raj in March 1929 and decided in 1933. Several trade unionists, including three Englishmen, were arrested for organizing an Indian railway strike. The Bri ...

and Bengali writer. In 1981 he received

Sahitya Akademi Award The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the ...

for his book ''Kalikata Darpan''.

Early life

Mitra was born in

Shyambazar Shyambazar is a neighbourhood of North Kolkata North Kolkata encompasses the northern part of Kolkata, including the city's oldest neighbourhood. Shyambazar, Bagbazar, Kumartuli, Shobhabazar, Posta, Jorasanko, Rajabazar, Phoolbagan, Mani ...

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 ...

in a

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

lower middle class family. He passed Matriculation examination from

Hindu School, Kolkata Hindu School is a state government-administered school in Kolkata (Calcutta), India. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest modern educational institution in Asia (then known as ''Hindu College''). The institution played a key role during Bengal R ...

in 1913 and passed Intermediate with Gold medal in 1915. In 1917 he completed his graduation from St. Paul's Cathedral Mission College.

Revolutionary activities

Mitra joined in

Non-cooperation movement The Non-cooperation movement was a political campaign launched on 4 September 1920, by Mahatma Gandhi to have Indians revoke their cooperation from the British government, with the aim of persuading them to grant self-governance.

while studying M A. in

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 ...

. He went to

Etawah Etawah also known as Ishtikapuri is a city on the banks of Yamuna River in the state of Western Uttar Pradesh in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Etawah District. Etawah's population of 256,838 (as per 2011 population census) m ...

with his friend another revolutionary

Bankim Mukherjee Bankim Mukherjee (c. 1896–1961) was an Indian Bengali communist politician. He had taken part in the Civil Disobedience Movement, the Indian Communist movement and had organized various trade unions and Kisan sabhas (Farmers' organization). ...

to organise grass route people in support of

Gandhism Gandhism is a body of ideas that describes the inspiration, vision, and the life work of M.K. Gandhi. It is particularly associated with his contributions to the idea of nonviolent resistance, sometimes also called civil resistance. The term ...

. In 1921 he was arrested and imprisoned in

Naini Naini (also known as Naini Industrial Area) is a satellite neighborhood and a twin city of Prayagraj in Prayagraj district, Uttar Pradesh, India. By the 1950s Naini was established as the chief industrial area of the city. History Naini had a ...

jail for one year. After release Mitra personally met with

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

Sabarmati Ashram Sabarmati Ashram (also known as Gandhi Ashram) is located in the Sabarmati suburb of Ahmedabad, Gujarat, adjoining the Ashram Road, on the banks of the River Sabarmati, from the town hall. This was one of the many residences of Mahatma Gandh ...

and worked with him continuously three years. In 1927 he established Kolkata Corporation Teachers Association while teaching in a School in

. After that he participated in trade union movements, constructed labour organisation in various area of

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

. Police again arrested Mitra in Meerat Conspiracy Case but he was released by order of

Allahabad High Court Allahabad High Court, also known as High Court of Judicature at Allahabad is the high court based in Prayagraj that has jurisdiction over the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It was established on 17 March 1866, making it one of the oldest high ...

. In 1943-44 Mitra joined in the

Communist Party of India Communist Party of India (CPI) is the oldest Marxist–Leninist communist party in India and one of the nine national parties in the country. The CPI was founded in modern-day Kanpur (formerly known as Cawnpore) on 26 December 1925. H ...

. He was popular for his

Marxist Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

intellectualism, literary works and enormous knowledge about history of Calcutta metropolis. He was also a member ''Bharat Soviet Suhrid Samity'' established in 1941. He resigned from the active politics since 1951.

Works

* ''Bangalar Tin Manishi'' * ''Kalikatay Vidyasagar'' * ''Kalikata Darpan (Vol I,II)'' * ''Devid Hare: His life and works'' * ''Radharaman Mitrer Prabandha''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitra, Radharaman 1897 births 1992 deaths Communist Party of India politicians from West Bengal Bengali communists Bengali historians St. Paul's Cathedral Mission College alumni University of Calcutta alumni Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Bengali Writers from Kolkata Prisoners and detainees of British India