Kalikrishna Mitra (1822 – 2 August 1891) was 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 ...

philanthropist, educator and writer. He established the first non-government girls’ school in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

Early life

Mitra was born to Shibnarayan Mitra 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 ...

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 from

Hare School Hare School is one of the oldest schools in Kolkata, India, teaching grades one to twelve under the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education and the West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education. It is a state government-administered boys sc ...

and entered into the Presidency College but due to poor economic condition he had to leave his studies and start living in his maternal house at

Barasat Barasat () is a city and a municipality of North 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of Barasat Sadar subdivision. It is a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) ...

, presently

North 24 Parganas district North 24 Parganas (abv. 24 PGS (N)) or sometimes North Twenty Four Parganas is a district in southern West Bengal, of eastern India. North 24 Parganas extends in the tropical zone from latitude 22° 11′ 6″ north to 23° 15′ 2″ north and ...

. His elder brother was a notable doctor, Nabinkrishna Mitra.

Contribution

Mitra involved himself with

progressive education Progressive education, or protractivism, is a pedagogical movement that began in the late 19th century and has persisted in various forms to the present. In Europe, progressive education took the form of the New Education Movement. The term ''p ...

movement and several activities relating to some social reforms mainly in Bengal. In 1847 he established a private girls school in Barasat with the help of his brother Nabinkrishna and educationist

Peary Charan Sarkar Peary Charan Sircar (also spelled Pyari Churn Sircar or Pyari Charan Sircar in contemporary documents; 1823–1875), was an educationist and textbook writer in nineteenth century Bengal. His series of Reading Books introduced a whole generation o ...

. This was the first school for the girls of aristocratic

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

families established by any Indian. Initially it was started with only two girls. ''Kuntibala'', daughter of Nabinkrishna is one of them. Although such activities was strongly opposed by Hindu Zaminders and the then conservative society but

Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar CIE ( bn, ঈশ্বর চন্দ্র বিদ্যাসাগর; 26 September 1820 – 29 July 1891), born Ishwar Chandra Bandyopadhyay, was an Indian educator and social reformer of the nineteenth century ...

and

John Elliot Drinkwater Bethune John Elliot Drinkwater Bethune (1801–1851) was an educator, mathematician and polyglot who is known for his contributions in promoting women's education in India. He was the founder of Calcutta Female School (now known as Bethune College) in Ca ...

supported Mitra's enormous effort for women education in Bengal. Latter the school was renamed as

Kalikrishna Girls' High School Barasat Kalikrishna Girls' High School is a heritage high school for girls in Barasat, West Bengal, India. History It was established in 1847 by Kalikrishna Mitra, with the support of Nabinkrishna Mitra and Peary Charan Sarkar. The school ...

. Even Bethune got inspiration for establishment Bethune School in 1849, when he went there for inspection as President of the Council of Education. Mitra organised an agricultural firm of 150 ''Bighas'' for scientific farming, plantation and research in Barasat. He brought modern equipment from

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

for this purpose. He also contributed to spread out for

Homeopathy Homeopathy or homoeopathy is a pseudoscientific system of alternative medicine. It was conceived in 1796 by the German physician Samuel Hahnemann. Its practitioners, called homeopaths, believe that a substance that causes symptoms of a d ...

medication.

Literary works

Mitra had knowledge in English literature, philosophy, yoga, history and science. He published various articles in Bengali and English magazines. Mitra wrote few books namely: * ''Bama Chikitsa'' * ''Garhasthyobabostha O Shishu Chikitsa'' * ''Pashu Chikitsa''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitra, Kalikrishna Indian schoolteachers 1822 births 1891 deaths Bengali Hindus Bengali writers 19th-century Bengalis Linguists from Bengal Founders of Indian schools and colleges Indian reformers Indian writers Indian male writers Indian social workers Indian social reformers Indian educators Indian educational theorists Educationists from India Linguists from India Indian philanthropists Writers from Kolkata Widowhood in India Women's education in India 19th-century Indian linguists 19th-century Indian writers 19th-century Indian male writers 19th-century Indian educators 19th-century Indian philanthropists 19th-century Indian educational theorists Bengali educators Educators from West Bengal Hare School alumni Presidency University, Kolkata alumni