Madan Mohan Malaviya Biography 
Madan Mohan Malaviya, fondly addressed as 'Mahamana’, was an Indian educationalist, politician and freedom fighter. He is founder of the largest residential university in Asia - Banaras Hindu University (BHU) at Varanasi in 1916, a university in which more than 12,000 students study now. He has also served as its Vice Chancellor during the period, 1919–1938. He has been the President of the Indian National Congress on four occasions. Malviya was one of the founders of Scouting in India and also started English newspaper, The Leader published from Allahabad in 1909. He was also the Chairman of Hindustan Times from 1924 to 1946 till his death and started its Hindi edition in 1936. He has been one of the prominent iconic figures from India before independence.
Pandit Malviya was born in Allahabad on 25 December 1861 to Brijnath and Moona Devi as the fifth child among 8. His ancestors were excellent in Sanskrit and those talents were carried forward to next generations including Brijnath and his kids. Brijnath used to recite the Bhagvat Katha to earn a living. He started learning Sanskrit at the age of 5 from Pandit Hardeva's Dharma Gyanopadesh Pathshala. Pandit Malviya matriculated in 1879 from Allahabad University, then known as the Muir Central College. Though he wanted to pursue an M.A. in Sanskrit, his father was against it as he didn’t want his son to continue his family profession of Bhagavat recital. Thus Malaviya started his career as a teacher in Allahabad District School. His marriage had already happened in 1878 when he was only 16.
In December 1886, Malaviya attended the 2nd Indian National Congress session in Kolkata. His speech on the issue of representation in Councils impressed everyone. Later Malviya became the President of the Indian National Congress in 1909, 1918, 1930 and 1932. In April 1911, Annie Besant met Malaviya and they decided to work for a common Hindu University at Varanasi. Thus Banaras Hindu University (BHU) was established in 1916 and still it remains one of the leading universities of the world.
Published: N/A
Updated: September 26, 2017
