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, 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 (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 * A part of the Bengali

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 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, 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, 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, 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, Assamese writer and poet * Budhindranath Delihial Bhattacharya, 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, actor * Subhankar Chattopadhyay, Indian Filmmaker, Scriptwriter, Creator of Non Fiction shows. * Mohit Chattopadhyay, playwright, screenwriter * Muhammad Shahidullah, linguist * Rajanikanta Sen, poet, composer * Samir Roychoudhury, poet, writer * Satyendra Chandra Mitra, freedom fighter, politician * Sunil Kanti Roy, managing director of Peerless Group 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, Bengali actor and theatre personality * Jibanananda Das, Bengali poet and writer * Bhaskar Saha, immunologist, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar laureate * Pran Ranjan Sengupta, mathematician and scientist * Akhil Niyogi, Bengali writer and editor

Notable Faculty

* Bratya Basu *

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