Henry Vivian Derozio and the Young Bengal
Henry Louis Vivian Derozio was born on 18 April 1809 in Kolkata. He was a fiery Indian teacher and poet and as a lecturer at the Hindu College of Calcutta, he invigorated a large group of students to think independently. His students came to be known as Derozians. He encouraged students to read Thomas Paine’s Rights of Man and other free-thinking texts and infused rationalism and patriotism and ,he encouraged questioning the orthodox Hindu customs. He was there from 1827 until he was expelled from the college by the Hindu dominated management in 1831. His contributions were:
- He gave a profound intellectual backbone to the youth in the college.
- His ideas had a profound influence on the social movement that came to be known as the Bengal Renaissance in early 19th century Bengal.
- He also educated on the key social issues such as women upliftment ,abolition of sati and widow remarriage.
- He also established the ‘Young Bengal’ movement which instilled spirit of free thought and rationalism.it included members such as Krishna Mohan Banerjee, Peary Chand Mitra, , Ramgopal Ghosh etc.
- These and many other Derozians later managed forerunners of later organisations such as the Landholders’ Society, British India Society, and British Indian Association. Also many of them were involved in Brahmo Samaj.