| Allan Octavian Hume (1829-1912)
was an administrator with a deep insight and
understanding of the problems of rural India. He
worked for India and helped form the Indian
National Congress in 1885. He died at the age of
84, on July 31, 1912 and the people of India
mourned his death as he was one of them. (go to the top)
|
Womesh Chandra Bonnerjee (1844-1906)
Womesh Chandra was born on December 29, 1844, in
Calcutta in an upper middle class Brahmin family
of considerable social standing. He presided over
the first session of the Indian National Congress
held at Bombay in 1885. In the 1886 session held
at Calcutta he proposed the formation of standing
committees of the Congress in each province for
the better co-ordination of its work and it was
on this occasion that he advocated that the
Congress should confine its activities to
political matters only, leaving the question of
social reforms to other organisations.
(go to the
top) |
| Dadadabhai Naoroji (1825-1917)
Dadabhai Naoroji was born in Bombay in September
4, 1825 in a priestly Parsi family. On January 31,
1885, when the Bombay Presidency Association came
into being, he was elected as one of its Vice-Presidents.
At the end of the same year, he took a leading
part in the founding of the Indian National
Congress and became its President thrice in 1886,
1893 and 1906. Known as 'The Grand Old Man of
India" Dadabhai Naoroji was a great public
figure during 1845-1917. (go to the top)
|
| Badruddin Tyabji (1844-1906)
Badruddin Tyabji (Tyab Ali) was born in Bombay on
October 10, 1844. In 1885 he helped to
found the Bombay Presidency Association and
virtually ran it all by himself. Soon afterwards,
the Indian National Congress held its first
session in Bombay under its auspices; and
Badruddin and Camruddin (his brother) were among
its delegates. He was not only, as Mahatma Gandhi
wrote, "......for years, a decisive factor
in the deliberations of the Congress" but
one of its creators.
(go to the
top)
|
George Yule (1829-1892)
George Yule was persuaded by W. C. Bonnerjee to accept the invitation of the Congress to
preside over the Allahabad session. He belonged
to the business community. He was the chief of
the well-known Andrew Yule and Co. in Calcutta.
He was also Sheriff of Calcutta for sometime and
President of the Indian Chamber of Commerce.
Throughout his Indian career, George Yule won the
respect, admiration, and regard of
everybody with whom he came in contact - Indian
and European, official and non-official.
(go to the
top) |
Sir William Wedderburn (1838-1918)
Sir William was born in March 1838 in Edinburgh,
Scotland. In 1859 William appeared for the Indian
Civil Service examination. He left for India in
1860 and began official duty at Dharwar as an
Assistant Collector. His concern with the
problems of India brought him in touch with the
Indian National Congress. After his retirement,
William Wedderburn threw himself heart and soul
into it. He presided over the fourth Congress
held in Bombay in 1889. He came to India in 1904
to attend the 20th session of the Indian National
Congress in Bombay, which was presided over by
Sir Henry Cotton. He was again invited in 1910 to
preside over the 25th session. He remained the
Chairman of the British Committee of the Congress
from July 1889 until his death.
(go to the
top) |
Sir Pherozeshah Mehta (1845-1915)
Sir Pherozeshah Mehta was born in Bombay, on
August 4, 1845, where he spent the greater part
of his life. He was mainly responsible for the
founding of an English newspaper, the Bombay
Chronicle (April 1913), which became an important
agency for expressing Indian public opinion. In
the proceedings of the Indian National Congress (in
its founding he had a distinctive hand) he held
an important and commanding position. His main
endeavour was to keep the extremists from
dominating the Congress, and in this he was
largely successful. He presided over the Congress
session held in Calcutta (1890) and was twice
President of the Reception Committee when the
Congress sessions met in Bombay (1889 and 1904).
(go to the
top) |
| P Ananda Charlu (1843-1908)
Panambakkam Ananda Charlu was born of orthodox
Brahmin parents in August 1843 in the village of
Kadamanchi, Chittoor District, Andhra Pradesh. In
1885 he was one of the seventy-two delegates to
the first session of the Indian National Congress
held in Bombay. From that time on he attended
almost every one of its sessions and took an
active part in its proceedings. The impression
which he produced on the delegates resulted
naturally in his being elected President of the
Nagpur Session in 1891. (go to the top)
|
Alfred Webb (1834-1908) The
third non-Indian to have presided over the Indian
National Congress, Alfred Webb, was an Irishman. The son of a radical Quaker printer and publicist, he brought a rare breadth of vision and moral courage to Ireland's campaigns for Home Rule and land reform.
"Politics are amongst the most ennobling,
most comprehensive spheres of human activity, and
none should eventually be excluded from their
exercise. There is much that is sad, much that is
deplorable about them. Yet they remain, and ever
will remain. The most effective field upon which
to work for the good of our fellows. The
political atmosphere, that which we here hope to
breathe, is one into which no thought of "greed
or lust, or ambition" should enter. We
desire the good of all. We work for all." -
from the Presidential Address - Alfred Webb, I.N.C.
Session, 1894, Madras.
(go to the
top) |
Surendranath Banerjea (1848-1925)
Surendranath Banerjea was born on November 10,
1848 in Calcutta. The Calcutta session of the
Congress in 1886 marked a distinct advance in its
tone and spirit and Surendranath played
a leading part in the National Congress; he
became its President twice in 1895 and 1902.
(go to the
top)
|
Rahimtulla M Sayani (1847-1902)
Rahimtulla M. Sayani was born in Kutch on April 5,
1847. He began his public life as an elected
member of the Bombay Municipal Corporation (1876), the Sheriff of Bombay in 1885
and was elected President of the Corporation in
1888. He was
associated with the Indian National Congress
since its inception and was one of the two Indian
Muslims who attended its first session in 1885.
He presided over the 12th annual session of the
Congress held at Calcutta in 1896. His
presidential address hailed by a contemporary
journal as the "best delivered so far"
was notable for the close attention it paid to
the economic and financial aspects of the British
rule in India.
(go to the
top) |
Ananda Mohan Bose (1847-1906)
Ananda Mohan Bose was born on September 23, 1847
in Myrmensingh, Bengal. Ananda Mohan was
associated with the Congress since its
inauguration and was elected President of its
Madras Session in 1898. He is remembered in
particular for the last speech that he made on
October 16, 1905 at a public meeting organised in
Calcutta to protest against the partition of
Bengal. Shortly after this crowning act of his
career, he passed away in Calcutta on August 20,
1906 at the somewhat premature age of 59.
(go to the
top)
|
Sir C Sankaran Nair (1857-1934)
Sir Sankaran was born on July 11, 1857 on the
Malabar Coast. He played an active part in the
Indian National movement which was gathering
force in those days. In 1897, when the First
Provincial Conference met in Madras, he was
invited to preside over it. The same year, when
the Indian National Congress assembled at Amraoti,
he was chosen its President. He was a patriot,
who worked for the welfare of his people. He was
ahead of his times in social reform and here his
contribution was substantial.
(go to the
top)
|
|
