Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Biography 
Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi was a freedom fighter, writer and journalist who lived in the pre-independent India. An independence movement activist, Ganesh is an iconic figure of non-cooperation movement. A well-known journalist he was the founder editor of Pratap, Hindi daily. Also known as a translator and writer, he translated Victor Hugo's novel Ninety-Three to Hindi. Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Award is instituted by the Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University of Journalism and Communication in his honour. GSVM Medical College Kanpur is named in his remembrance. He was mobbed to death in 1931 in Kanpur, at a comparatively young age of 40 when he tried to shield thousands of people belonging to Hindus and Muslims in a communal riot, while he was on the way of Lahore. Ganesh was a prominent political leader then.
Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi was born on 26 October 1890 in Hathgam, Madhya Pradesh. He was born into a poor family. His father Jai Narain was a school teacher and a religious person. Ganesh took his early lessons from father, and completed school education privately in 1907. Due to poor financial conditions, he could not study further. Started off his professional career as a clerk, he later worked as a teacher in high school in Kanpur. He got married at the age of 19. He published his first book Hamari Atmogsargart at the age of 16.
Later he got interest in freedom struggle movement and the field of journalism. He stood for communal harmony and stood for poor and suppressed. His active career as a journalist and freedom struggler started in 1913 after he moved to Kanpur. He first met Gandhiji in 1916 in Lucknow and got associated with freedom struggle movement. He won Provincial Legislative Council elections in 1925 and served as a Member of the U.P. Legislative Council until 1929. He was active in his social life when he lost his life in a communal riot, when he tried to protect people from a communal riot at Kanpur.
Published: N/A
Updated: April 24, 2016
