Shamsunnahar Mahmud (c. 1908 — April 10, 1964) was a writer, politician and educator in

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

during the early 20th century. She was a leader of the women's rights movement in Bengal pioneered by

Begum Rokeya Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain (9 December 1880 – 9 December 1932), commonly known as Begum Rokeya, was a prominent Bengali feminist thinker, writer, educator and political activist from British India. She is widely regarded as a pioneer of women' ...

. Shamsunnahar Hall of the University of Dhaka and University of Chittagong was named after her.

Early life and education

Mahmud was born in 1908 in North Guthuma village, in what is now Parshuram Upazila of

Feni District Feni District () is a coastal Districts of Bangladesh, district situated in the south-east of Bangladesh, within Chittagong Division. One of Bangladesh's smallest districts, it is strategically located along the N1 (Bangladesh), Dhaka–Chittago ...

, Bangladesh. Her father, Mohammad Nurullah, was a munsiff. Khan Bahadur Abdul Aziz was her grandfather. Her brother, Habibullah Bahar Chowdhury was a politician. Mahmud started her studies at Dr. Khastagir Government Girls' School in

Chittagong Chittagong ( ), officially Chattogram, (, ) (, or ) is the second-largest city in Bangladesh. Home to the Port of Chittagong, it is the busiest port in Bangladesh and the Bay of Bengal. The city is also the business capital of Bangladesh. It ...

, and matriculated in 1926 as a private candidate. She received her I.A. in 1928 and B.A. in 1932 at the Diocesan College of

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 ...

. In 1942, she completed her M.A. in

Bengali literature Bengali literature () denotes the body of writings in the Bengali language and which covers Old Bengali, Middle Bengali and Modern Bengali with the changes through the passage of time and dynastic patronization or non-patronization. Bengali h ...

. After her studies she joined the women's rights movement led by

Career

Mahmud started her career as a teacher of Bengali literature at Lady Brabourne College. She worked as secretary to the Nikhil Banga Muslim Mahila Samity (All Bengal Muslim Women's Society). She visited Turkey and the Middle East as a representative of

East Pakistan East Pakistan was the eastern province of Pakistan between 1955 and 1971, restructured and renamed from the province of East Bengal and covering the territory of the modern country of Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Burma, wit ...

in 1952. She was elected member of the National Assembly in 1962. In 1961, she initiated the establishment of "The Centre for the Rehabilitation of Disabled Children". She led a delegation to the

International Council of Women The International Council of Women (ICW) is a women's organization working across national boundaries for the common cause of advocating women's rights, human rights for women. In March and April 1888, women leaders came together in Washington D.C ...

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

and joined the International Friendship Organization as Asia's regional director.

Personal life

She married Wahiduddin Mahmud in 1927. They had met in Calcutta two years ago when she was a teenager. He was the Surgeon General of then East Pakistan. Together they had two sons, Mamun Mahmud, a martyred freedom fighter during the 1971 Liberation war of Bangladesh, and Mainuddin Mahmud, a cricketer, and sports enthusiast.

Works

Mahmud's first poem was published in a juvenile monthly magazine, ''Angur''. She edited the women's sections of the magazines, ''Nauroj'' and ''Atmashakti''. Together with her brother, Habibullah, she edited the magazine Bulbul (1933) which was published from Kolkata.

Books

* ''Punyamayi'' (1925) * ''Phulbagicha'' (1935) * ''Begum Mahal'' (1936) * ''Roquia Jibani'' (1937; the first biography of

) * ''Shishur Shiksa'' (1939) * ''Amar Dekha Turaska'' (1956) * ''Nazrulke Jeman Dekhechhi '' (1958)

Legacy

After Mahmud's death, the women's hall of the

University of Dhaka The University of Dhaka (), also known as Dhaka University (DU), is a public university, public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Established in 1921, it is the oldest active university in the country. The University of Dhaka w ...

University of Chittagong The University of Chittagong () also known as Chittagong University (CU), is a public research university located in Chittagong, Bangladesh. It was established on 18 November 1966. It is the fifth oldest university of Bangladesh. Having an area ...

were named Shamsunnahar Hall. She was awarded

Independence Day Award The Independence Award (), formally known as the Independence Day Award or Swadhinata Padak (), is the highest state award given by the government of Bangladesh. Introduced in 1977 by President Ziaur Rahman, this award is bestowed upon Banglade ...

in 1981 by the

Government of Bangladesh The government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh () is the central government of Bangladesh. The government was constituted by the Constitution of Bangladesh comprising the executive (the president, prime minister and cabinet), the ...

for her contribution to social work.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahmud, Shamsunnahar 1900s births 1964 deaths Bengali writers Indian women's rights activists Recipients of the Independence Award People from Feni District Politicians from Chittagong Division Recipients of Begum Rokeya Padak Honorary Fellows of Bangla Academy Women members of the Jatiya Sangsad 20th-century Bangladeshi women politicians