''La Martinière'' (informally known as LMC) comprises two independent private single-sex schools for day scholars, with a few boarders, located in

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

(formerly Calcutta),

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, 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 by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. They were established in 1836 in accordance with the will of the French soldier of fortune and philanthropist, Major General

Claude Martin Major-General Claude Martin (5 January 1735 – 13 September 1800) was a French army officer who served in the French Indies Company, French and later East India Company, British East India companies in colonial India. Martin rose to the rank of ...

. They are Christian schools, controlled by the Anglican

Church of North India The Church of North India (CNI) is the dominant united and uniting churches, united Protestant church in northern India. It was established on 29 November 1970 by bringing together most of the Protestant churches working in northern India. It i ...

and independent from the government, with English as the primary language of instruction.La Martiniere history at Tripod
accessed 10 August 2007 La Martiniere Calcutta is often ranked among the best day schools in the country. It is affiliated to the Council for the ISC Examinations New Delhi, which conducts the ICSE & ISC Examinations at the close of Classes 10 and 12.

History

Founder of the school

La Martinière,

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

, was founded by Major General Claude Martin, a French soldier, born and brought up in

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in 1735.

came from a

bourgeois The bourgeoisie ( , ) are a class of business owners, merchants and wealthy people, in general, which emerged in the Late Middle Ages, originally as a "middle class" between the peasantry and Aristocracy (class), aristocracy. They are tradition ...

family in France, where his father was a casket maker. Not stepping into his father’s shoes, Martin decided to go into the

French army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (, , ), is the principal Army, land warfare force of France, and the largest component of the French Armed Forces; it is responsible to the Government of France, alongside the French Navy, Fren ...

. As part of the army, Claude Martin was sent to

Pondicherry Pondicherry, officially known as Puducherry, is the Capital city, capital and most populous city of the Puducherry (union territory), Union Territory of Puducherry in India. The city is in the Puducherry district on the southeast coast of Indi ...

, in 1752, to serve as a troop member of the French army stationed in India. From 1752-63, Claude Martin served in the French Army before joining the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

. As part of the British Army, Claude Martin was stationed to serve in the Calcutta base of the Company. Later, Martin commanded the

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from ''cheval'' meaning "horse") are groups of soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mob ...

for the Nawab of

Awadh Awadh (), known in British Raj historical texts as Avadh or Oudh, is a historical region in northern India and southern Nepal, now constituting the North-central portion of Uttar Pradesh. It is roughly synonymous with the ancient Kosala Regio ...

Shuja-ud-Daula Shuja-ud-Daula (19 January 1732 – 26 January 1775) was the third Nawab of Oudh and the Vizier of Delhi from 5 October 1754 until his death 26 January 1775. He was a key 18th-century Mughal ally who despised the Maratha-backed Imad-ul-Mulk. ...

. During his military career in India, Martin became known as a reputable soldier and commander and became very wealthy. As part of his job, Martin traveled a lot between

(modern-day

) and

(modern-day

Lucknow Lucknow () is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the largest city of the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is the administrative headquarters of the epon ...

). Inspired by Masonic ideas, Martin decided to set up relief measures and charities to help the poor in Lucknow and Kolkata. Among his many pursuits, Martin wanted to set up educational institutions in both these cities, and left a large portion of his wealth for the founding of such schools in his will, before dying in 1800. Claude Martin in his will, regarding the founding of La Martinière Calcutta, writes: "''I and bequeath the sum of two hundred thousand Sika Rupees to the town of Calcutta for to be put at interest in Government Paper or the most secure mode possible, and this principal and interest to be put under the protection of Government, or the Supreme Court, that they may devise an institution the most necessary for the public good of the town of Calcutta, or establishing a School for to educate a certain number of children of any sex to a certain age, and to have them put prentice to some profession, when at the conclusion of their school and to have them married when at age, and also wishes that every year premium of few rupees or other thing and a medal be given to the most deserving or virtuous boy and girl or both to such that have come out of the school''".

Establishment and Early Curriculum

The settlement and enforcement of Martin’s will were complicated and required significant legal proceedings. Nearly 40 years after Claude Martin’s death, in 1840, the Supreme Court of Kolkata finally approved Martin’s will and gave permission for the establishment of La Martiniere, Calcutta, with one school for boys and one for girls. The rules and regulations for the La Martiniere Schools in Calcutta were founded in 1836 and reflect the educational priorities of that era. The primary objective of the schools was to equip the children with the skills required to earn an honest livelihood. The curriculum for boys included English,

grammar In linguistics, grammar is the set of rules for how a natural language is structured, as demonstrated by its speakers or writers. Grammar rules may concern the use of clauses, phrases, and words. The term may also refer to the study of such rul ...

writing Writing is the act of creating a persistent representation of language. A writing system includes a particular set of symbols called a ''script'', as well as the rules by which they encode a particular spoken language. Every written language ...

geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

(with a particular emphasis on

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

and

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

), Hindustani,

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 ...

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

natural history Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

, and

mechanical philosophy Mechanism is the belief that natural wholes (principally living things) are similar to complicated machines or artifacts, composed of parts lacking any intrinsic relationship to each other. The doctrine of mechanism in philosophy comes in two diff ...

. Girls were taught the same subjects, with the exception of mathematics and mechanical philosophy, and also learned

needlework Needlework refers to decorative sewing and other textile arts, textile handicrafts that involve the use of a Sewing needle, needle. Needlework may also include related textile crafts like crochet (which uses a crochet hook, hook), or tatting, ( ...

knitting Knitting is a method for production of textile Knitted fabric, fabrics by interlacing yarn loops with loops of the same or other yarns. It is used to create many types of garments. Knitting may be done Hand knitting, by hand or Knitting machi ...

straw plaiting Straw plaiting is a method of manufacturing textiles by braiding straw and the industry that surrounds the craft of producing these straw manufactures. Straw is plaited to produce products including straw hats and ornaments, and the process is u ...

, and

music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

. Classes were held six days a week, and students had half a day off on Saturdays. Regular breaks were taken during Easter and Christmas, and the anniversary of Claude Martin's death (13 Sep) was also celebrated as a holiday, with a dinner for the students and medals awarded to deserving boys and girls. The school was rescued out of financial distress by a INR 1.1 million donation from old Martinian Sir Paul Chater in 1925.

Founder's Day

Founder's Day continues to be celebrated on 13 September every year with a service in the school hall, usually, although not always, attended by an Old Martinian as the Chief Guest, and medals awarded to students. The Founders Gold Medal (for academics) and silver medal for Good Conduct have been awarded since the school's founding with the Principal's Medals for Best Sportsman and Best All-Round Student being awarded from 1960 onwards. There is also a social dance attended by the senior boys and girls and a football match between the school team and a team representing La Martiniere Old Boys.

Notable alumni

Science

Gagandeep Kang – Vaccine scientist at CMC Vellore, known as India’s "vaccine godmother"; first Indian woman to be elected as a Fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

Business and finance

* Sir Paul Chater (1863 batch) — trader and entrepreneur in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

Vijay Mallya Vijay Vittal Mallya (born 18 December 1955) is an Indian businessman and a former politician. He is the subject of an extradition effort by the Indian Government to return him from the UK to face charges of financial crimes in India. His last ...

('72 batch) – Businessman, former chairman of

United Breweries Group United Breweries Holdings Limited (UBHL), also called UB Group, is the Indian subsidiary of Heineken N.V.. It is headquartered in UB City, Bangalore, Karnataka. Its core business includes beverages and investments in various sectors. The co ...

and

Kingfisher Airlines Kingfisher Airlines Limited was an airline group based in India. It was established in 2003 and started its commercial operations in 2005. Through its parent company United Breweries Group, it had a 50% stake in low-cost carrier Kingfisher Red. ...

; former

Rajya Sabha Rajya Sabha (Council of States) is the upper house of the Parliament of India and functions as the institutional representation of India’s federal units — the states and union territories.https://rajyasabha.nic.in/ It is a key component o ...

Member of Parliament. C. K. Birla ('73 batch) – Industrialist; chairman of the

CK Birla Group CKA Birla Group (previously CK Birla Group) is an Indian multinational conglomerate headquartered in Birla Tower on Barakhamba Road, New Delhi, India. The group has been historically led by industrialists Braj Mohan Birla and Ganga Prasad B ...

. Harshavardhan Neotia – Chairman of the Ambuja Neotia Group. Hemant Kanoria – Chairman and Managing Director of Srei Infrastructure Finance. Pramod Bhasin – Founder and first CEO of

Genpact Genpact Ltd. is an American information technology services, consulting, and outsourcing company headquartered in New York City, New York. Founded in Gurgaon, India, and legally domiciled in Bermuda, Genpact employs more than 125,000 people and ...

; pioneer of the BPO industry in India. Suhel Seth ('82 batch) – Marketing expert, author, and media commentator. Asma Khan ('87 batch) – Chef and restaurateur; featured on '' Chef’s Table''.

Sports

Chhanda Gain – First Bengali woman to summit

Mount Everest Mount Everest (), known locally as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at it ...

Leander Paes Leander Adrian Paes ( ; born 17 June 1973) is an Indian former professional tennis player and the first Asian man to be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. He is regarded as one of the greatest doubles tennis players of all-tim ...

('92 batch) – Tennis player; bronze medalist at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

; multiple Grand Slam doubles titles; former captain of the India Davis Cup team. Khokhan Sen ('43 batch) – Former India Test cricketer (14 Test matches). Anne Lumsden – Field hockey player; recipient of the

Arjuna Award The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards given for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the second-highest sporting honour of India, the highest being the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The award is named after Arjun ...

. Anush Agarwalla (2018 batch) — International equestrian athlete Rahil Gangjee ('97 batch) – Professional golfer on international tours.

Education

John Mason ('62 batch) – Educationist and schoolmaster; recipient of the Good Conduct Medal. Nirmalya Kumar – Professor of marketing and management; noted art collector.

Arts, culture and entertainment

Merle Oberon Merle Oberon (born Estelle Merle O'Brien Thompson; 19 February 191123 November 1979) was a British actress. She began her acting career in British cinema in the early 1930s, with a breakout role in ''The Private Life of Henry VIII'' (1933). She ...

('28 batch) –

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

actress.

Nafisa Ali Nafisa Ali is an Indian actress, politician, activist and former beauty pageant titleholder. She is a member of the All India Trinamool Congress. Early life Nafisa Ali was born in Kolkata, the daughter of Ahmed Ali, a Bengali man and Philome ...

('72 batch) – Actress, former Miss India (1975), and social activist. Pandit

Bickram Ghosh Bickram Ghosh is an Indian classical tabla player. Early life Ghosh started learning tabla from his father, Pandit Shankar Ghosh. Career Ghosh has performed with Ali Akbar Khan and Pandit Ravi Shankar. Ghosh's band, Rhythmscape, which perf ...

('84 batch) – Renowned tabla player.

Kiran Rao Kiran Rao (born 7 November 1973) is an Indian filmmaker who works in Hindi cinema. She has directed the films '' Dhobi Ghat'' (2011) and '' Laapataa Ladies'' (2024). In 2016, Rao co-founded Paani Foundation, a non-profit organisation. Early li ...

– Filmmaker and producer.

Pritish Nandy Pritish Nandy (15 January 1951 – 8 January 2025) was an Indian poet, painter, journalist, politician, media and television personality, animal activist and maker of films, television and streaming content. He was a parliamentarian in the Ra ...

('63 batch) – Poet, journalist, and film producer.

Rajiv Mehrotra Rajiv Mehrotra is an Indian writer, television producer-director, documentary film maker, a personal student of the Dalai Lama for whom he manages as Trustee/Secretary The Foundation for Universal Responsibility established with the Nobel Peace ...

('69 batch) – Documentary filmmaker and TV anchor.

Nilanjana Roy Nilanjana S. Roy (born c. 1971) is an Indian journalist, literary critic, editor, and author. She has written the fiction books ''The Wildings'' and ''The Hundred Names of Darkness'', and the essay collection ''The Girl Who Ate Books''. She is t ...

('89 batch) – Author and literary critic.

Anuvab Pal Anuvab Pal (born 27 April 1976) is an Indian stand up comedian, screenwriter, playwright and novelist. He is occasionally featured as a rotating co-host on season 4 of the podcast ''The Bugle''. Career Pal co-wrote the 2007 Indian comedy ''L ...

('95 batch) – Comedian, author, and screenwriter. Adrit Roy – Bengali film and television actor.

Government

Saiyid Nurul Hasan – Historian; former Union Minister of Education; former Governor of

Journalism

Swapan Dasgupta Swapan Dasgupta (born 3 October 1955) is an Indian journalist and politician. He is influential within the Indian right wing, writing columns for leading English dailies espousing Hindu nationalism. He was a nominated member of the Rajya Sabha. ...

('71 batch) – Journalist, columnist, and former managing editor of ''

India Today ''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media, Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' laun ...

''. Sunanda K. Datta-Ray – Former editor of '' The Statesman''. Jug Suraiya ('62 batch) – Associate editor of ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...

''; author and columnist. Sanjoy Narayan – Former editor-in-chief of ''

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media Limited, an entity controlled by the Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia, the daughter o ...

''. Ashok Malik ('88 batch) – Journalist and columnist; served as official spokesperson for the President of India (2017–2019). Paranjoy Guha Thakurta ('71 batch) – Investigative journalist and political analyst.

Prannoy Roy Prannoy Lal Roy (; born 15 October 1949) is an Indian economist, chartered accountant, psephologist, journalist and author. He is the former executive co-chairperson of NDTV and one of its co-founders, along with his wife Radhika Roy. Early ...

– TV presenter and founder of

NDTV New Delhi Television Ltd is an Indian news media company focusing on broadcast and digital news publication. It was founded in 1984 by economist Prannoy Roy and journalist Radhika Roy. NDTV began as a production house for news segments, ...

. Indrajit Hazra ('90 batch) – Author and columnist.

Politics

Mausam Noor – Member of Parliament for North Malda, elected in 2009. Chandan Mitra ('71 batch) – Member of Parliament; gold medalist in academics; journalist and former editor of '' The Pioneer''.

Notable Faculty

* John Mason (schoolmaster)

References

External links

* {{coord missing, West Bengal La Martinière College Church of North India schools Schools in Colonial India Private schools in Kolkata Christian schools in West Bengal Primary schools in West Bengal High schools and secondary schools in Kolkata Educational institutions established in 1836 1836 establishments in India