Biography of Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar
Date of Birth: September 26, 1820
Place of Birth: Village Birshingha, District Medinipur, Bengal Presidency (now in West Bengal)
Parents: Hakurdas Bandyopadhyay (Father) and Bhagavati Devi (Mother)
Wife: Dinamani Devi
Children: Narayan Chandra Bandyopadhyay
Education: Sanskrit College Calcutta
Movement: Bengal Renaissance
Social Reforms: Widow Remarriage
Religious Views: Hinduism
Publications: Betaal Panchabinsati (1847); Jeebancharit (1850); Bodhadoy (1851); BornoPorichoy (1854); Sitar Bonobash (1860);
Death: July 29, 1891
Place of death: Calcutta, Bengal Presidency (now Kolkata, West Bengal)
Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar is considered a pioneer in Bengal renaissance. This great man was born in 1820 at Birsingha village of Midnapur. His proud parents were Thakurdas Bandyopadyay and Bhagabati Debi. Though he had his early schooling at his village school, his education was complete in Kolkata. He was a student of Sanskrit College. Later on, he became its Principal. His professional life was devoted to education. He also became the Inspector of Schools. His life style was very simple. He was noted for his kindness. As a social reformer he ushered in a new era in Bengal. It was he who toiled hard to bring about an end to child marriage. He introduced remarriage of widows because he was greatly distressed at the plight of the child-widows. He initiated a literacy drive in those dark days. He was one of the best authors of Bengali literature. He himself wrote books for learning Bengali in a scientific manner. This noble man passed away in 1891.
Vidyasagar was constantly vocal about the oppression that the society inflicted on ladies at that point. He become very near his mother who was a wonderful person, who directed him once to do some thing to relieve the ache and helplessness of Hindu widows, who were pressured to stay a existence of abnegation. They were denied simple pleasures of life, marginalised within the society, often exploited unfairly and dealt with as a burden by way of their family. Vidyasagar’s compassionate heart couldn’t take their plight and he made it his challenge to improve the excellent of life for those helpless ladies. He confronted raging opposition from orthodox society which termed the concept as something heretic. He challenged the Brahminical government and proved that widow remarriage is sanctioned by means of Vedic scriptures. He took his arguments to the British authorities and his pleas had been heard whilst the Hindu Widows’ Remarriage Act, 1856 or Act XV, 1856, became decreed on July 26, 1856. He did no longer simply forestall there. He initiated several suits for baby or adolescent widows within respectable households and even married his son Narayan Chandra to a young person widow in 1870 to set an instance.