Recently, the 201st birth anniversary of Ishwar Chand Vidyasagar was observed.

About:

=> The title 'Vidyasagar' (ocean of knowledge) was given to him due to his vast knowledge in almost all the subjects. Poet Michael Madhusudan Dutta while writing about Ishwar Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar Chandra said: "The genius and wisdom of an ancient sage, the energy of an Englishman and the heart of a Bengali mother".

=> He was a well-known writer, intellectual and above all a staunch follower of humanity.

=> He was the great scholar, academician and reformer.

Early Life :

=> Ishwar Chandra Bandyopadhyay was born on 26 September 1820 in Birsingha village of Midnapore district, West Bengal.

=> His father Thakurdas Bandyopadhyay and mother Bhagavati Devi were very religious persons.

=> He spent his childhood days in abject poverty as the economic condition was not that stable.

Education: 

=> He was a brilliant student. His quest for knowledge was so intense that he used to study on street lights as it was not possible for him to afford a gas lamp at home.

=> He cleared all the examinations with excellence and in quick succession.

=> He was rewarded with a number of scholarships for his academic performance.

=> In the year 1839, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar successfully cleared his Law examination.

=> In 1841, at the age of twenty-one years, He joined Fort William College as a head of the Sanskrit department.

Contributions:

=> He was a part of the larger social movement called the Bengal Renaissance, which started with the enlightened leadership of Raja Rammohan Roy.

=> He brought a revolution in the education system of Bengal. In his book, "Barno-Porichoy" (Introduction to the letter), Vidyasagar refined the Bengali language and made it accessible to the common strata of the society.

=> He used to spend a part of his scholarships and salary for the welfare of those poor people. He would also buy medicine for the sick.

=> He proposed and pushed for the Widow Remarriage Act of 1856 in India and raised concern for the abolition of child marriage and polygamy.

=> He also opened the doors of the colleges and other educational institutions to lower caste students, which was earlier reserved only for the Brahmins. For his immense generosity and kind-heartedness, people started addressing him as "Dayar Sagar" (ocean of kindness).

Demise:

He passed away on 29 July 1891 at the age of 70 years. After his death, Rabindranath Tagore said, "One wonders how God, in the process of producing forty million Bengalis, produced a man!"