Womesh Chaunder Bonnerjee

Womesh Chaunder Bonnerjee Biography

Womesh Chaunder Bonnerjee was the first president of Indian National Congress. He was a barrister by profession. He was the first Indian to contest the election for British House of Commons, though he couldn’t win despite attempting twice. Womesh Chandra Bonnerjee was born on December 29, 1844 at Kolkata as the son of Grees Chunder, an attorney at the Calcutta High Court. He founded East India association in 1865.

Womesh’s schooling was done at Oriental Seminary and the Hindu School. He got married in 1859. He began his career as a clerk at Attorneys of the Calcutta Supreme Court in the year 1862. While working as a clerk, he got a lot of experience in this profession which helped him a lot further. With a scholarship, he went to England in the year 1864 to study law. Once returned he found a patron in Sir Charles Paul, Barrister-at-Law of the Calcutta High Court. It was barrister J. P. Kennedy, who helped Womesh to establish as a reputed lawyer. Very soon he became one of the most sought lawyers at High Court. He was the first Indian to act as a Standing Counsel. He defended Surendranath Banerjee in the famous Contempt of Court Case in 1883 which is regarded as one of the most memorable episodes of his career.

He presided over the first session of the Indian National Congress held at Bombay in 1885. In the next section, he proposed the formation of standing committees of the party in each province for the better co-ordination of its work. He also suggested that congress should give importance to political matters and its increase in strength rather than concentrating on to social activities. He became the prseeident of INC for the second time in 1892 session in Allahabad, where he denounced the position.

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Updated: February 25, 2014