Nabagopal Mitra Biography 
Nabagopal Mitra was one of the founding fathers of Hindu nationalism and Hindu Mela, the pioneer institution behind the genesis of Hindu nationalism. He was known as a writer and patriot and he published poems, plays and essays. He founded several organisations titled, ‘National’ and hence popularly known as 'National Mitra'. National Paper, National Society, National School, National Theatre, National Store, National Press, National Gymnasium and National Circus are among those organizations founded by Mitra.
Nabagopal Mitra was born in a Hindu family of Shankar Ghosh Lane, near Cornwallis Street in Kolkata in the year 1840. Some historians believe that he was born in 1841. From his childhood days he was very close to the Tagore family and studied with Satyendranath Tagore and Ganendranath Tagore at Hindu school. Later he became a close associate of Maharshi Debendranath Tagore and was heavily influenced by his thinking and conservative outlook. In 1865, Nabagopal Mitra started English weekly called National Paper financed by Tagore. He served as its chief editor also. He purposefully used to create simple grammar mistakes while writing in English, justifying that English is not our mother tongue.
Mitra believed unity to be the fundamental criterion of nationalism and even tried to bring unity among Hindus. He also attempted a definition of the Hindu nation and his ideologies were not solely concentrating on to Bengal Hindus. One year later the start of English weekly, Paper published the Prospectus of a Society for the Promotion of National Feeling among the Educated Natives of Bengal by Rajnarayan Basu. Inspired by this booklet, Mitra founded the Hindu Mela and the National Society. Through Hindu mela, he emphasized on gymnastics, wrestling and other traditional sports. National school and National theatre were founded in the year 1872 and National Circus in 1881.
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Updated: January 08, 2014
