City College is a composite state government–aided

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

college, affiliated to the

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...

. It offers undergraduate-level courses in various arts, commerce and science subjects.

History

Anandamohan Bose Ananda Mohan Bose () (23 September 1847 – 20 August 1906) was an Indian politician, academic, social reformer, and lawyer during the British Raj. He co-founded the Indian National Association, one of the earliest Indian political organizati ...

, founder of the City College, Kolkata, was a supporter of the Brahmo religion during his student life. In 1869, he officially adopted the Brahmo religion along with his wife Swarnaprabha Devi (sister of Jagadish Chandra Bose). However, young members of

Brahmo Samaj Brahmo Samaj ( ) is the societal component of Brahmoism, which began as a monotheistic reformist movement during the Bengal Renaissance. It was one of the most influential religious movements in India and made a significant contribution to ...

(followers of the Brahmo religion) differed with Keshab Chandra Sen (founder of the Brahmo religion) regarding matters like child marriage, running of the Brahmo Samaj and various other matters. Because of this difference, younger members of this society like Anandamohan Bose, Shibnath Shastri, Sib Chandra Deb, Umesh Chandra Dutta, etc. established the Sadharan Brahmo Samaj in 1878. On 27 April 1879, Anandamohan Bose, first president of the Sadharan Brahmo Samaj, founded the Chhatrasamaj, the student's wing of the Sadharan Brahmo Samaj movement. In 1879–81, he established the City College, Calcutta, as an initiative by the Sadharan Brahmo Samaj movement. The college started its journey with the Law department. In 1884, this college was elevated to a first-grade degree college. By the year 1920, the college began offering different undergraduate (BA/B.Sc) degree courses in arts and science. The college opened the Commerce Department in 1939, thereby becoming the largest college in Asia. Later, in 1943, the Women's Department was inaugurated. It is one of the heritage institutions of Kolkata and played a prominent role in the wake of the

Bengal Renaissance The Bengal Renaissance (), also known as the Bengali Renaissance, was a cultural, social, intellectual, and artistic movement that took place in the Bengal region of the British Raj, from the late 18th century to the early 20th century. Histo ...

of the nineteenth century. The college is located at 102/1, Raja Rammohan Roy Sarani ( Amherst Street), Kolkata-700009. It shares premises with Rammohan College (morning college) and Anandamohan College (evening college). In 1961, the branches of City College split into separate colleges as instructed by the University Grants Commission. While the original college retained the original name “City College”, the branches were named Rammohan College, Ananda Mohan College, Umesh Chandra College, City College of Commerce and Business Administration, Sivanath Sastri College, Heramba Chandra College, and Prafulla Chandra College. Together, they are referred to as City group of college (Kolkata). City College Kolkata Library

Disaster

On February 11, 2018, a bomb exploded in the City College hostel leaving a boy critically injured. The hostel is situated beside the college and has been abandoned since 2003.

In popular culture

* City College was featured in Satyajit Ray's 1956 drama film

Aparajito ''Aparajito'' ( ''Ôporajito''; ''The Unvanquished'') is a 1956 Indian Bengali-language drama film written and directed by Satyajit Ray, and is the second part of ''The Apu Trilogy''. It is an adaptation of the last part of Bibhutibhushan Ba ...

* A part of the

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 ...

action film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...

''Mahan'' (1996), directed by

Haranath Chakraborty Haranath Chakraborty () is an Indian Bengali people, Bengali film director. He made his directorial debut with "Mangaldeep" (1989). Many of his movies have been critically acclaimed and enjoyed commercial success. Awards *Sathi (2002) won the ...

were shot at City College.

Departments and courses

The college offers different undergraduate and postgraduate courses and aims at imparting education to the undergraduates and postgraduates of upper-, lower- and middle-class people of Kolkata and its adjoining areas.

Science

Science faculty consists of the departments of Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, Botany, Zoology, Physiology, and Economics.

Arts & Commerce

Arts and Commerce faculty consists of departments of Bengali, English, Sanskrit, History, Political Science, Philosophy, and Commerce.

Accreditation

The City College, Kolkata is recognized by the University Grants Commission (UGC).Colleges in West Bengal, University Grants Commission
/ref> The college was accredited by the

National Assessment and Accreditation Council The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) is a public autonomous body of the government of India that assesses and accredits higher education institutions (HEIs) in India. It is funded by the University Grants Commission and hea ...

(NAAC) in 2007, and awarded a B+ grade. In 2024, the college was re-accredited by the

(NAAC) and awarded a B grade.

Notable former principals

Krishna Bose Krishna Bose (26 December 1930 – 22 February 2020) was an Indian politician, educator, author and social worker. She was a Member of Parliament elected from the Jadavpur constituency in West Bengal as an All India Trinamool Congress candidat ...

, an Indian

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

, educator, author and social worker.

Notable alumni

Swami Shuddhananda Shuddhananda who was the fifth president of the Ramakrishna Order, was a direct monastic disciple of Vivekananda. He joined the Ramakrishna Math in 1897. He became a trustee of Ramakrishna Math and a member of the governing body of Ramakrishna ...

, former president of the

Ramakrishna Mission Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission (RKM) is a spiritual and philanthropic organisation headquartered in Belur Math, West Bengal. The mission is named after the Indian Hindu spiritual guru and mystic Ramakrishna. The mission was founde ...

Soumitra Chatterjee Soumitra Chatterjee (also spelt as Chattopadhyay; ; 19 January 193515 November 2020) was an Indian film actor, play-director, playwright, writer, thespian and poet. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential actors in the histor ...

, actor *

Vikram Chatterjee Vikram Chatterjee ( born 17 May 1988) is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Bengali cinema. He made his silver screen debut in 2012 with a supporting role in Mainak Bhowmik's ''Bedroom''. In the same year he acted in '' Elar Char Adh ...

, actor *

Laxminath Bezbarua Lakshminath Bezbarua (; 14 October 1864 - March 26,1938) was an Indian poet, novelist and playwright of modern Assamese literature. Commonly known as the father of the Assamese short story. He was one of the literary stalwarts of the Jonaki Era ...

, Assamese writer and poet *

Budhindranath Delihial Bhattacharya Budhindranath Delihial Bhattacharya (1865–1945), also known as Budhi Babu, Budhindra Nath Bhattacharya, is renowned for his work ''The Pronouncing Anglo Assamese Dictionaries'', which was first published in 1931. He was also a tea planter of ...

, lexicographer, author, dramatist and tea planter *

Barun Sengupta Barun Sengupta () (23 January 1934 – 19 June 2008), the founder-editor of ''Bartaman'' newspaper, was a Bengali journalist and popular political critic. He is remembered for his bold and simple diction of political analysing that made him ex ...

, founder and editor of

Bartaman ''Bartaman Patrika'' () is an Indian Bengali language, Bengali daily newspaper published from Kolkata, West Bengal, India, by Bartaman Pvt. Ltd. Apart from the Kolkata edition, the newspaper has three other simultaneous editions, published dail ...

newspaper *

Shakti Chattopadhyay Shakti Chattopadhyay (25 November 1933 – 23 March 1995) was an Indian poet and writer who wrote in Bengali. He is known for his realistic depictions of rural life. He was a green poet, many of his poems raised the issue of nature in crisis. ...

, poet *

Haradhan Bandopadhyay Haradhan Bandopadhyay (6 November 1926 – 5 January 2013) was a Bengali Indian actor of television and films. He made his debut in the 1948 Bengali film ''Devdut'', directed by Atanu Bandopadhyay. He worked with some of the most prominent dir ...

, actor *

Subhankar Chattopadhyay Subhankar Chattopadhyay (Bengali: শুভঙ্কর চট্টোপাধ্যায়; born 1977) is an Indian director, scriptwriter, content creator, and producer. He is a non-fiction show creator in Tollywood.He is known for direc ...

, Indian Filmmaker, Scriptwriter, Creator of Non Fiction shows. * Mohit Chattopadhyay, playwright, screenwriter *

Muhammad Shahidullah Muhammad Shahidullah (; 10 July 1885 – 13 July 1969) was a Bengali people, Bengali linguist, philologist, educationist, and writer. He played vital role in Language movement of 1952 he was the first to establish logic about Why Bengali should ...

, linguist *

Rajanikanta Sen Rajanikanta Sen, also known as Kantakobi, (26 July 1865 – 13 September 1910) was a Bengali poet and composer, known for his devotional (bhakti) compositions, as well as his patriotic songs. Early life, education and profession File:Sri Gurupr ...

, poet, composer *

Samir Roychoudhury Samir Roychowdhury ( Bengali: সমীর রায়চৌধুরী) (1 November 1933 – 22 June 2016), one of the founding fathers of the Hungry Generation (also known as Hungryalism or Hungrealism (1961–1965)), was born at Panihat ...

, poet, writer *

Satyendra Chandra Mitra Satyendra Chandra Mitra (23 December 1888 – 27 October 1942) was an Indian freedom fighter, who started his political career as a revolutionary aligning himself with the Jugantar Party. In 1916 he was arrested and interned at Janjira Cha ...

, freedom fighter, politician * Sunil Kanti Roy, managing director of

Peerless Group Peerless Group is an Indian business conglomerate headquartered in Kolkata, West Bengal. History The company was established in 1932 by industrialist Radhashyam Roy (then a School Teacher) in Narayanganj, Bangladesh. The company shifted b ...

and

Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

awardee * Birendra Nath Mallick, neurobiologist, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar laureate *

Bankim Ghosh Bankim Ghosh (22 October 1922 — 3 June 1992) was a veteran actor of Bengali film and theatre personality. Early life Ghosh was born in 1922 in Kolkata, British India. He passed Matriculate examination from Oriental Seminary and B.Com. from ...

, Bengali actor and theatre personality *

Jibanananda Das Jibanananda Das (17 February 1899 – 22 October 1954) was a Bengali poet, writer, novelist and essayist in the Bengali language. Popularly called "Rupashi Banglar Kabi'' ('Poet of Beautiful Bengal'), Das is the most read Bengali poet after Rab ...

, Bengali poet and writer * Bhaskar Saha, immunologist, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar laureate * Pran Ranjan Sengupta, mathematician and scientist *

Akhil Niyogi Akhil Niyogi also known as Swapanburo (25 October 1902 — 21 February 1993) was a Bengali children's writer and editor. He is better known by the pseudonym ''Swapnaburo''. Early life He was born as Akhilbandhu Niyogi in 1902 at Sankrail-Tang ...

, Bengali writer and editor

Notable Faculty

Bratya Basu Bratyabrata Basu Roy Chowdhury (born 25 September 1969),Bratya Basu(collected plays), Ananda Publishers, 2004 also known as Bratya Basu, is an Indian actor, stage director, playwright, film director, professor and politician who has been the Ed ...

Subodh Sarkar Subodh Sarkar (; born 1958 in Krishnanagar) is a Bengali poet, writer and editor, and a reader in English literature at City College, Kolkata. He is a recipient of the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award. Biography Subodh Sarkar, born in 195 ...

References

External links

*
Official website
{{authority control Universities and colleges in Kolkata Academic institutions associated with the Bengal Renaissance University of Calcutta affiliates Universities and colleges affiliated with the Brahmo Samaj Universities and colleges established in 1881 1881 establishments in British India

History

Disaster

In popular culture

Departments and courses

Science

Arts & Commerce

Accreditation

Notable former principals

Notable alumni

Notable Faculty

See also

References

External links