Sir Rash Behari GhoshCSICIE (23 December 1845–28 February 1921) was an Indian politician, lawyer, social worker and philanthropist.
Early life and education
Rashbehari Ghosh was born on 23 December 1845 in Torkona village in Khandaghosh area. His family belonged to the Sadgop and resided in Purba Bardhaman district, Bengal Presidency. He attended Burdwan Raj Collegiate School and Presidency College, Kolkata. He obtained a first class in the MA examination in English. In 1871, he passed the Law examination with honours and was awarded the Doctor of Laws degree in 1884.[1]
Political career
Ghosh became a member of the Indian National Congress and leaned towards the moderate wing. He had deep faith in progress, but was opposed to radicalism in any form. He served as the President of the Congress for two terms. First in the historic 1907 Surat Session, succeeding Dadabhai Naoroji, after which the Congress split into Moderates and Extremists, and then the year after in Madras, 1908.
Ghosh's contributions earned him a series of honours, such as the Tagore Law Professorship (1875–76) at Calcutta University and an honorary DL degree from Calcutta University (1884).
He made a fortune through his legal practice, but donated much of it by way of charity and endowments. He established Torkona Jagabandhu School (1894). In 1913, he established an endowment for scientific studies at Calcutta University with an initial capital of ten lakh rupees. He also donated 13 lakh rupees to establish a National Council of Education (NCE) at Jadavpur. It later became Jadavpur University. Ghosh was the first president of NCE.
He donated a princely sum (almost 33% of financial expenditure) to Acharya Praffulla Roy for establishing Bengal Chemical and Pharmaceutical Works.
Street named after Ghosh in Kolkata
Considering the contributions made by Ghosh for the people of India, a street was named after him in Kolkata.[6]Rashbehari Avenue, named after him, starts from Chetla-Sahanagar Bridge (Shaheed Jatin Das Setu) and runs eastwards to Ballygunge and Gariahat.
Legacy
His house in Burdwan District has been kept intact. His family members still reside there. Few of his descendants have joined the legal profession. One of his brothers was Hon'ble Judge of Calcutta High Court Sir Bipin Bihari Ghosh.
