City College, Kolkata

City College (Bengali: সিটি কলেজ) (or City College, Amherst street, Kolkata) is a constituent undergraduate college of the University of Calcutta. Established in 1881, it is one of the heritage institutions of Kolkata, and played a prominent social role in the wake of the Bengal Renaissance of the nineteenth century. The college is located at 102/1, Raja Rammohan Roy Sarani (Amherst street), Kolkata-700 009. It is one of the City group colleges administered by Brahmo Samaj Education Society, a registered society, constituted by the Sadharan Brahmo Samaj, Kolkata.^[1]

History

City College owes its origin to the intensive effort for spread of English education in Bengal, towards the end of the nineteenth century, by several educationists and philanthropists. In a fledgling form this institution was founded as a high school on 6 January 1879, by Ananda Mohan Bose in collaboration with two other educationists, Pandit Sivanath Sastri and Sir Surendranath Banerjea of Sadharan Brahmo Samaj. Sivanath Sastri was the first secretary of the school committee and also its first headmaster. After two years, in 1881, the high school was developed into a college and F.A. classes were inaugurated. The college was founded by Bose, barrister-at-law and the first Indian wrangler at Cambridge University. Pandit Sivanath Sastri, some veteran educationists, and a few other stalwarts of Sadharan Brahmo Samaj rendered their support to the cause of the institution and joined its tutorial staff. Umesh Chandra Dutta, also a Brahmo stalwart, became the first principal of the college. The college was first established in an old house. After a short while, that house at 13, Mirzapur Street (now Surya Sen Street) was purchased for the City College.

From its inception, the college was managed by Ananda Mohan Bose, Sivanath Sastri and other Brahmo leaders who handed over the management to Sadharan Brahmo Samaj which founded the Brahmo Samaj Education Society (BSES).

In 1883 a Law Department was added; in 1884, it was elevated to a First Grade college when B.A. courses in several subjects commenced. A branch of this institution, the City College at Mymensingh was established in 1901 and is still imparting education in Bangladesh. In 1905, the college was placed under the control of the Brahmo Samaj Educational Society. The new and present mansion of City College at 102/1 Raja Rammohan Sarani, Kolkata – 9 was erected in 1917 along with the Rammohan Hostel. The new building was inaugurated in 1918.

In 1939 a commerce department was opened and City College attained the position of the biggest college in Asia. This was followed by the inauguration of the women’s department in 1943. And from 1947 to 1950, honours courses in several branches of science were started. In course of time City College opened many branches. Several institutions originated and were fostered at the City College buildings, among which may be mentioned the Calcutta Deaf and Dumb School, the Anath Bandhu Samity, the Central Bengal Union, and Dr. M.M. Bose’s Homeopathic Institution.

In 1961 the branches of the City College evolved into separate colleges under instructions of the University Grants Commission. While the original college retained the earliest title “City College”, the branches were named as 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.

Activities

City College library room

The college attempts to promote sports and games as a matter of policy. Thus, an admission quota for sportspersons has been instituted. Besides, sporting achievements are duly appreciated through special facilities offered to deserving players. The college participates in various tournaments organised by the University of Calcutta as well as by state-level sports bodies like the CAB, IFA, WBTTA etc. This active pro-sports stance has yielded impressive results. The college cricket team won the CAB- organised Inter-College tournament in 2008.Also, a number of students from the college represented the state and the university in different disciplines. In order to give the students a taste of adventure sports, a trekking programme to Sandakphu was organised in 2007 under the UGC Adventure Sports Scheme. A small team was also sent to attend rock-climbing course in Purulia.

Notable faculty

• Ashoke Kumar Sen, politician
• Bratya Basu, dramatist, politician
• Brajendra Nath Seal humanist philosopher
• Buddhadeb Dasgupta, filmmaker
• Chidananda Dasgupta film maker, film critic
• Debendra Mohan Bose, physicist
• Jibanananda Das, poet
• Krishna Bose, politician, educator and social worker
• Rajendra Prasad President of India
• Shankha Ghosh, poet, critic
• Sibnarayan Ray, literary critic
• Subodh Sarkar, poet, writer
• Umesh Chandra Dutta, ex-principal

Notable alumni

• Swami Shuddhananda, former president of the Ramakrishna Mission
• Soumitra Chatterjee, actor
• Laxminath Bezbarua, Assamese writer
• Barun Sengupta, the founder-editor of Bartaman newspaper
• Shakti Chattopadhyay, poet
• Haradhan Bandopadhyay, actor
• Mahesh Chandra Ghosh, philosopher, Brahmo
• 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 awardee

References

External links

• Official website

Coordinates: 22°34′49″N 88°22′12″E / 22.5802°N 88.3699°E / 22.5802; 88.3699