''Gopal Ganesh Agarkar'' (14 July 1856 – 17 June 1895) was an Indian social reformer, educationist, and thinker from

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

, India. At one time a close associate of

Bal Gangadhar Tilak Bal Gangadhar Tilak (; born Keshav Gangadhar Tilak (pronunciation: eʃəʋ ɡəŋɡaːd̪ʱəɾ ʈiɭək; 23 July 1856 – 1 August 1920), endeared as Lokmanya (IAST: ''Lokmānya''), was an Indian nationalist, teacher, and an independence a ...

, he was co-founder of multiple educational institutes such as the New English School, the Deccan Education Society and Fergusson College along with Tilak,

Vishnushastri Chiplunkar Vishnushastri Chiplunkar (20 May 1850 – 17 March 1882) (Marathi : विष्णुशास्त्री कृष्णाशास्त्री चिपळूणकर) was a Marathi writer, whose writings have had a decisive influen ...

, Mahadev Ballal Namjoshi, V. S. Apte, V. B. Kelkar, M. S. Gole and N. K. Dharap. He was the first editor of the weekly '' Kesari'' and founder and editor of a periodical, ''

Sudharak ''Gopal Ganesh Agarkar'' (14 July 1856 – 17 June 1895) was an Indian social reformer, educationist, and thinker from Maharashtra, British India, India. At one time a close associate of Bal Gangadhar Tilak, he was co-founder of multiple ...

''. He was the second Principal of Fergusson College and served that post from August-1892 until his death. A locality in Andheri,Mumbai is named after him as Agarkar Chowk

Early life

Gopal Ganesh Agarkar was born on 14 July 1856 in

Tembhu Tembhu is a small village situated on the eastern bank of the River Krishna, near Karad, in the Satara District of Maharashtra, India. Tembhu is the site of an Rs 9-billion irrigation project, set up in order to provide water to the droug ...

, a village in Karad taluk, Satara district, Maharashtra. He was a friend of Nilkanth Tidke Agarkar was schooled in Karad and then worked as a clerk in a court there. In 1878, he got his B. A. degree, and in 1880 was awarded an M.A.

Social activism and Later life

He was the first editor of ''Kesari'', a prominent Marathi-language weekly newspaper founded by Lokmanya Tilak in 1880-81. Ideological differences with Tilak caused him later to leave. They disagreed on the primacy of political reform versus social reform, with Agarkar believing that the need for social reform was more immediate. He started his own periodical, ''

'', in which he campaigned against the injustices of untouchability and the Caste system. Agarkar abhorred blind adherence to and glorification of tradition and the past. He supported widow remarriage. From 1892 to 1895 he was the Principal of Ferguson college. Agarkar suffered from severe asthma his entire life and succumbed to it on 17 June 1895

Publications

* ''Futke Nashib'' (Biography) * ''Alankar Mimmansa'' (अलंकार मीमांसा) * ''Dongarichy Turangatil'' ''101 divas'' (1882) * Marathi translation of Hamlet

Early life

Social activism and Later life

Publications

References

Further reading