Durga Mohan Das Biography 
Durga Mohan Das was a Brahmo Samaj leader and a social reformer from Bengal. He is known for his social reforms for the empowerment of women, particularly widow remarriage and women’s emancipation. His elder brother Kali Mohan Das was a famous lawyer of Kolkata High Court. Chittaranjan Das was son of his brother Bhuban Mohan Das. Amongst his children the more renowned were Satish Ranjan Das, Sarala Roy and Abala Bose. Air Marshal Subroto Mukerjee was his great grandson. Abala Bose was married to famous Indian scientist, J. C. Bose. He was married twice. Atulprasad Sen, noted Bengali lyricist and composer is the son of his second wife, Hemantasashi Sen of her first wed lock. She was the daughter of renowned Brahmo social reformer Kali Narayan Gupta.
He was born at Telirbagh, Bikrampur, Dhaka in 1841. He lost his mother early in life. His school education was initiated at village pathsala, followed by English education from Barisal. His father Kashiswar Das was a lawyer. He won a junior scholarship and joined Hindu College in Kolkata. Later he studied at Presidency College with a senior scholarship. During this time he was influenced by his history professor, Edward Cowley who was a Sanskrit scholar also. He even tried to get converted to Christianity. But it caused opposition from his young wife, Brahmamoyee. At that time, he passed the licentiate examination in law and had started practising at Kolkata. Then he got shifted to Barisal where his elder brother was also practising.
His elder brother gave him a few books to read and asked him to convert religion only after reading them. Surprisingly he joined the Brahmo Samaj. Very soon with the help of a few friends he established a Brahmo Samaj at Barisal. He supported widow remarriages at a time when it was a hot debate topic. Around 1870, Durga Mohan Das shifted to Kolkata High Court.
Published: N/A
Updated: April 22, 2014
