Pandit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar

Pandit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was born in a village called Birsingha, in the district of Midnapore. Thakurdas Bandyopadhyay was his father and his mother was Bhagabati Devi. They were very poor. But Ishwar Chandra was very intelligent. His intelligence was marked by his indomitable quest for knowledge. He used to study under the street light as it was not possible for him to afford a gas lamp at his own home. He passed all the examinations with excellence and in quick succession. He was rewarded with a number of scholarships for his academic performance. He came to Calcutta (Kolkata) with his father and got admitted to the Sanskrit College and later on he became the Principal of that college. He was not only a learned man. He had a heart that bled to see the suffering humanity. He opened many schools to spread education. He wrote many text books. His famous books are :
BARNAPARICHAY (PARTS I & II, 1855)

RIJUPATH (PARTS I,II & III, 1851-52)

SANSKRITA BYAKARANER UPAKRAMANIKA (1951)

BYAKARAN KAUMUDI (1853)
Vidyasagar reconstructed the Bengali alphabet and reformed Bengali typography into an alphabet (actually abugida) of twelve vowels and consonants. Vidyasagar contributed significantly towards the Bengali and Sanskrit literature. He worked hard for female education and widow marriage. We remember him as a great teacher and social reformer who fought all his life for the moral uplift of the society. It is said that Vidyasagar was the founder of the modern society. This self-less, kindhearted great man wanted to see India free from the curses of ignorance. Shortly after Vidyasagar's death, Rabindranath Tagore reverently wrote about him, "One wonders how God, in the process of producing forty million Bengalis, produced a man!"

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