List of Kolkata Presidencians

According to the college directory of the University Grants Commission (India) there are eleven colleges that have the word "Presidency College" in their titles. Among them, four are primarily referred to as Presidency College only. The following list only contains the names of some eminent alumni of Presidency College, Kolkata. A former or current student, who had been admitted into the college, but did or did not complete the course is called a 'Presidencian'. Names of former students of Hindu College, which was its predecessor from 1817–1855, are also included in this list. Names of former distinguished faculty members of the college are also mentioned in this list.

Heads of government

• Mohammad Ali Bogra, Prime Minister of Pakistan (1953-1955)
• Abu Sayeed Chowdhury, President of Bangladesh (1972-1973)
• Dr. Rajendra Prasad, President of India (1950-1962)
• Abu Sadat Mohammad Sayem, President of Bangladesh (1975-1977)

Social reform

• Durga Mohan Das, leader of the Brahmo Samaj
• Mahendranath Gupta, author of Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita (The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna)
• Raja Dakshinaranjan Mukherjee, leader of the Young Bengal movement; Taluqdar of Shankarpore in the United
• Keshab Chandra Sen, Brahmo reformer; founder of the Nababidhan Samaj
• Swami Vivekananda, founder of Ramakrishna Mission and Ramakrishna Math (for one year)

Politics

• Mohammad Ali of Bogra, politician, diplomat and statesman; third Prime Minister of Pakistan
• Col. H.H. Nripendra Narayan Bhup Bahadur, Maharaja of Coochbehar^[1]
• Surendranath Banerjea, 11th President of the Indian National Congress
• Bratya Basu, Higher Education Minister, Government of West Bengal (2011–present)
• Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, Chief Minister of West Bengal (2001–11)
• Subhas Chandra Bose, 53rd President of the Indian National Congress; founder of the Forward Bloc (later expelled)^[2]
• Bhupendra Nath Bose, Under Secretary in the Council for the Secretary of State for India
• Sarat Chandra Bose, Works, Mines and Power Member, Government of India (1946)
• Somnath Chatterjee, Speaker of Lok Sabha, India (2004–2009)
• Pratap Chandra Chunder, Education and Social Welfare Minister, Government of India (1977–1980)
• Chittaranjan Das, known as "Deshbandhu", founder of Swaraj Party
• Asim Dasgupta, Finance Minister, Government of West Bengal (1987-2011)
• Ullaskar Dutta, former member of Jugantar Party
• Atulkrishna Ghosh, member of the Anushilan Samiti
• Jnan Chandra Ghosh, Kt., former Member-in-Charge of Education, Health and Scientific Research, Planning Commission, India (1955)
• Nolini Kanta Gupta, participated in the Alipore Bomb case
• A.K. Fazlul Huq, Prime Minister of Bengal (1939–1943)
• Azizul Haque, B.L, C.I.E, K.C.S.I, D.Litt, former Education Minister, Government of Bengal
• Humayun Kabir, Education Minister, Government of India (1958–67)
• Pandit Yamuna Karjee, member of the Legislative Assembly of Bihar and Orissa (1937–42)
• Bishnu Ram Medhi, Chief Minister of Assam (1950–57)^[3]
• Amit Mitra, Finance Minister of West Bengal (2011–present)
• Hirendranath Mukherjee, member of Lok Sabha, India (1952–77)
• Syama Prasad Mukherjee, founder of Bharatiya Jana Sangh; Industry and Supply Member, Government of India (1946–50)
• Raja Dakshinaranjan Mukherjee, leader of the Young Bengal Movement; Taluqdar of Shankarpore in the United Provinces
• Debi Prasad Pal, Minister of State for Finance, Government of India (1991–96)
• Dr. Rajendra Prasad, First President of India
• Abdur Rahim, Member, Bengal Executive Council (Administration of Justice, Jail and other Allied Subjects) (1921–25);, later President of the Central Legislative Assembly
• Siddhartha Shankar Ray, Chief Minister of West Bengal (1972–77)
• Saugata Roy, Minister of State for Urban Development, Government of India (2009–2012)
• Ashoke Kumar Sen, Law and Justice Minister, Government of India (1984–89)
• Mohit Sen, founder of the United Communist Party of India; member of the Communist Party of India
• Jatindra Mohan Sengupta, former Mayor of Calcutta
• Chandeshwar Prasad Narayan Singh, former Governor of Uttar Pradesh
• H.H. Maharaja Bir Pratap Singh Deo, former Maharaja of Sonepur, Orissa^[4]
• Anugrah Narayan Sinha, first Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar (1946–1957)
• Atish Chandra Sinha, Minister of State for Public Undertaking, Cottage and Small Scale Industries, Government of West Bengal (1972–1977); Zamindar of Kandi, Bengal
• Lord Satyendra Prasanno Sinha, first Indian Governor of Bihar and Orissa (1920–1921)
• Nawaab Syed Shamsul Huda K.C.I.E. (1884), The First Indian Muslim President of the reformed Legislative council of undivided Bengal in 1921.

Judiciary

• Syed Ameer Ali, first Indian Law Lord of the Privy Council
• Gooroodas Banerjee, former Judge of the High Court of Calcutta
• Pramada Charan Banerjee
• Monomohun Ghose, first practising Indian barrister of the Calcutta High Court
• Sir Sarat Kumar Ghosh, I.C.S, Chief Justice of Jaipur and Kashmir^[5]
• Altamas Kabir, 39th Chief Justice (retired) of the Supreme Court of India
• Fazlul Karim, first Chairman of Cox's Bazar
• Sir Ashutosh Mookerjee, former Chief Justice (acting) of the Calcutta High Court; five times Vice Chancellor of the University of Calcutta
• Sabyasachi Mukherjee, former Chief Justice of India
• Radhabinod Pal, Judge (retired) of the High Court of Calcutta
• Sudhamoy Pramanick, advocate; Indian independence activist; lifetime secretary of the Tili Samaj
• Brajkishore Prasad, lawyer; Zamindar of Shrinagar in Bihar
• Ajit Nath Ray, Chief Justice (retired) of the Supreme Court of India
• Subimal Chandra Roy, Judge (retired), Supreme Court of India
• Gnanendramohan Tagore, first Asian barrister

Public administration

• Anandaram Baruah, ICS (first Assamese in the ICS), District Magistrate in Bengal
• Atul Chandra Chatterjee, ICS, former Indian High Commissioner to the UK
• Pares Chandra Datta, former Director (retd.), Public Health, Government of Bengal^[6]
• Ranajit Datta, Chairman and Managing Director (retd.), Braithwaite, Burn and Jessop Ltd.^[7]
• Basanta Kumar De, Commercial Traffic Manager (retd.), Bengal Nagpur Railways^[8]
• Sib Chandra Deb, former Deputy Collector, Government of Bengal
• Gurusaday Dutt, ICS (retd.), Secretary, Local Self Government and Public Health Secretary, Government of Bengal^[9]
• Romesh Dutt, ICS, former Dewan of Baroda
• Behari Lal Gupta, ICS, former Dewan of Baroda
• Khan Bahadur Ahsanullah, I.E.S., former ADPI for Mohammedan Education, Bengal
• Sukumar Sen, ICS, Chief Election Commissioner of India (1952–60)
• Rathindranath Sengupta, I.A.S., Chief Secretary, Government of West Bengal
• Nitish Sengupta, I.A.S. (retd.), Revenue Secretary, Government of India; Member of Parliament, Contai, West Bengal
• Jawhar Sircar, Secretary, Ministry of Culture, Government of India (2008-2012); Chief Executive Officer, Prasar Bharti
• Ashok Mohan Chakraborty, Chief Secretary, Government of West Bengal
• Prasad Ranjan Ray, Home Secretary, Government of West Bengal
• Himachal Som, I.F.S., former Indian Ambassador to Italy
• Satyendranath Tagore, I.C.S. (retd.), District and Sessions Judge in Gujarat
• Gautam Bhattacharya, former PMG, Kolkata Region^[10]

Armed forces

• Air Marshal Subroto Mukerjee, first Indian Chief of the Air Staff of the Indian Air Force

Industry

• Basant Kumar Birla, Chairman, B.K. Birla Group
• Khuda Buksh, pioneer of insurance in Bangladesh
• Nagendra Nath Das, founder, Power Tools and Appliances Co., Ltd.
• Rama Prasad Goenka, Chairman Emeritus, RPG Group
• Ramgopal Ghosh, founder, R.G. Ghosh and Co.
• Sir Rajendra Nath Mookerjee, founder, Indian Iron and Steel Company at Burnpur
• Bhaskar Mitter, Chairman, Andrew Yule
• Subodh Chandra Mullick, founder, Life of Asia Insurance Company
• Prafulla Chandra Roy, founder, Bengal Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals

Medicine

• Mahendralal Sarkar, founder, Indian Association for the Cultivation of Sciences, Calcutta

Engineering

• Manas Kumar Chandra, Managing Director, Shalimar Works, Ltd.
• Dr Asok Kumar Ghosh, former Technical Director and Head, Water System Dept., M.N. Dastur & Co.
• Fazlur Rahman Khan, structural engineer; designed Chicago's 100-story John Hancock Center and 110-story Sears Tower

Academics

Sciences

Chemistry

• Upendranath Brahmachari, first to synthesise urea stibamine

Mathematics

• Amiya Charan Banerjee, former Vice Chancellor of Allahabad University
• Ananda Mohan Bose, mathematician; first Indian Wrangler at the University of Cambridge
• Sarada Prasanna Das, I.E.S., former Head of Department at Presidency College, Calcutta
• Anil Kumar Gain, mathematician and statistician from the University of Cambridge; Fellow of the Royal Society
• Azizul Haque, contributed to the mathematical formula for Henry Classification System of fingerprinting still widely used in the world
• Radhanath Sikdar, first person to calculate the height of Mount Everest

Physics

• Sudeshna Banerjee, faculty at TIFR, India^[11]
• Somendra Mohan Bhattacharjee, FNA, Professor at Institute of Physics, Bhubaneswar^[12]
• Jayanta Kumar Bhattacharjee, Director of Harish Chandra Research Institute, Allahabad
• Sabyasachi Bhattacharya, eminent condensed matter physicist^[13]
• Satyaki Bhattacharya, Delhi University, India^[14]
• Abhijit Bhattacharyya, Calcutta University, India^[15]
• Jagadish Chandra Bose, inventor of wireless communications, crescograph; discovered life in plants
• Satyendranath Bose, discovered Bose-Einstein statistics along with Albert Einstein; Bosons
• V Ravi Chandra, National Institute of Science Education and Research^[16]
• Arnab Rai Choudhuri, solar physicist
• Saurya Das, Lethbridge University^[17]
• Sumit R Das, string theorist^[18]
• Chandan Dasgupta, FNA, condensed matter physicist
• Saumen Datta, nuclear physicist^[19]
• Asit Kumar De, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, India^[20]
• Jishnu Dey, nuclear physicist, former faculty^[21]
• Mira Dey, nuclear physicist, former faculty^[22]
• Bhaskar Dutta, particle physicist, faculty at Texas A&M University, USA^[23]
• Pulak Dutta, condensed matter physicist, faculty at Northwestern University, USA^[24]
• Saikat Ghosh, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur^[25][26]
• Sankalpa Ghosh, professor of physics at Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, India^[27]
• Satish Ranjan Khastagir, physicist^[28]
• Anirban Kundu, University of Calcutta, India^[29]
• Amitabha Lahiri, S.N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, India^[30]
• Gautam Mandal, string theorist^[31]
• Aprotim Mazumder, faculty at TCIS-TIFR, India^[32]
• Anita Mehta, eminent condensed matter physicist, faculty at S.N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, India
• Parthasarathi Mitra, FNA, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, India^[33]
• Sisir Kumar Mitra, namesake of a crater on the moon
• Abhijit Mookerjee, solid state theoretician, IIT, Kanpur and S.N. Bose National Centre, Kolkata^[34]
• Palash B Pal, physicist, Professor at Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, India^[35][36]
• Santosh Kumar Rai, Harish Chandra Research Institute, India,^[37]
• Amal Kumar Raychaudhuri, physicist, known for Raychaudhuri's equation in general theory of relativity; former Professor and Head of Physics, Presidency College
• Amitava Raychaudhuri, FNA, particle physicist
• Somak Raychaudhury, eminent astrophysicist
• Probir Roy, particle physicist^[38]
• Shibaji Roy, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, India^[39]
• Meghnad Saha, discovered the Saha ionization equation
• Tapobrata Sarkar, works in string theory and quantum gravity at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur
• Sankar Das Sarma, faculty at University of Maryland, USA^[40]
• Ashoke Sen, eminent physicist; has contributed to string theory
• Parongama Sen, Calcutta University, India^[41]
• Shyamal Sengupta, condensed matter physicist^[42]
• Rajdeep Sensarma, TIFR, India^[43]
• Bikash Sinha, Padma Bhushan, Director (retd.), Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, Calcutta
• Debapriyo Syam, nuclear physicist,^[44]
• Dr. Shantilal Banerjee, eminent geo physicist, S. Banerjee, Volume 234, Issue 739 of Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London: Mathematical and physical sciences (1935). Further Studies on Organic Crystals. Harrison & Sons. p. 34.
• Dr. Santilal Banerjee, Kariamanickam Srinivasa Krishnan. Modern Magnetism. Cambridge University Press. p. 165.

Psychology

• P. K. Roy, first Indian Principal of Presidency College, Calcutta

Statistics

• Sudipto Banerjee, Professor and Chair, Department of Biostatistics at University of California, Los Angeles;
• Anil Kumar Gain, mathematician and statistician from the University of Cambridge; Fellow of the Royal Society
• Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis, Founder-Director, Indian Statistical Institute, Calcutta

Zoology

• Shivtosh Mukherjee, Founding-Dean (retd.), School of Life Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

Social sciences

Anthropology

• Surajit Chandra Sinha, former Vice Chancellor, Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan; Maharajkumar of Susanga, Bengal^[45]

Economics

• Isher Judge Ahluwalia, Chairperson, Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations
• Amiya Bagchi, Chancellor, Tripura University, Agartala
• Abhijit Banerjee, Ford Foundation Professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA
• Pranab Bardhan, professor at University of California at Berkeley
• Amitava Bose, former Director, Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta
• Ananish Chaudhuri, Professor of Experimental Economics and Department Head, University of Auckland
• Bibek Debroy, former Director, Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies, New Delhi
• Maitreesh Ghatak, Professor of Economics, London School of Economics
• Bimal Jalan, former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (2000-4)
• Pushkar Maitra, Professor of Economics, Monash University
• Sugata Marjit, former Director, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta (2007–2012)
• Radhakamal Mukerjee, former Vice-Chancellor of University of Lucknow
• Mihir Rakshit, professor, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata
• Debraj Ray, Julius Silver Professor of Economics, New York University
• Kalyan Sanyal, Professor of Economics, Dept. of Economics, University of Calcutta
• Amartya Sen, Master, Trinity College, Cambridge (1998–2004); winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, 1998^[46]
• Anindya Sen, Professor of Economics, Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta

History

• A.F. Salahuddin Ahmed, Professor (retd.) of History, Dhaka University; awarded the Ekushe Padak by the government of Bangladesh
• Rakhaldas Bandyopadhyay, discoverer of Mohenjodaro, the principal site of the Harappa Culture
• Sugata Bose, Gardiner Professor of Oceanic History and Affairs, Harvard University, USA
• Dipesh Chakrabarty, Lawrence A. Kimpton Professor of South Asian History, University of Chicago (B.A. [Hons.], Physics)
• Hirendranath Chakrabarty, former Curator (retd.), Victoria Memorial Hall, Calcutta
• Suranjan Das, Vice Chancellor, University of Calcutta
• Barun De, Chairman, West Bengal Heritage Commission.^[47]
• Nandini Gooptu, Head of Department, Oxford Department of International Development
• Ashin Das Gupta, Padma Shri, Vice Chancellor (retd.), Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan
• Atish Das Gupta, Director, West Bengal State Archives, Calcutta
• Dwijendra Narayan Jha, Professor (retd.) of History, University of Delhi
• Romesh Chandra Majumdar, former Vice Chancellor, University of Dacca
• Rajat Kanta Ray, Vice Chancellor (retd.), Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan
• Hemchandra Raychaudhuri, Charmichael Professor (retd.) of Ancient Indian History and Culture, University of Calcutta
• Tapan Raychaudhuri, Padma Bhushan, ad hominem professor (retd.) of Indian History and Civilisation, University of Oxford
• Jadunath Sarkar, Vice Chancellor (retd.), University of Calcutta
• Sumit Sarkar, Professor (retd.) of History, University of Delhi
• Susobhan Chandra Sarkar, Professor and Head of Department of History, Presidency College, Calcutta
• Jayanta Sengupta, Curator, Victoria Memorial Hall, Calcutta
• Amalesh Tripathi, Ashutosh Professor (retd.) of History, Calcutta University, Calcutta

Political science

• Partha Chatterjee, Professor of Anthropology, Columbia University, New York, USA
• Sudipta Kaviraj, professor and Chair of the Department of Political Science, Columbia University, New York

Languages

Bengali

• Ujjal Kumar Majumder, former head and Professor, Dept. of Bengali, University of Calcutta; critic
• Muhammad Shahidullah, writer and linguist
• Madan Mohan Tarkalankar, textbook writer

English

• Ahmad Ali, British Council Visiting Professor of English, The National Central University, Nanking
• Jasodhara Bagchi, former Chairperson, West Bengal Women's Commission, Calcutta
• Swapan Kumar Chakravorty, Director-General, National Library, Kolkata
• Sukanta Chaudhuri, Emeritus Professor of English, Jadavpur University, Calcutta
• Supriya Chaudhuri, Professor of English, Jadavpur University, Calcutta
• Malabika Sarkar, former Vice-Chancellor, Presidency University
• Peary Charan Sarkar, former Headmaster, Hare School, Calcutta
• Nabaneeta Dev Sen, former Professor of Comparative Literature, Jadavpur University, Calcutta
• Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, professor, Department of English and Comparative Literature, Columbia University, USA

Sanskrit

• Kshetresa Chandra Chattopadhyaya, former Professor of Sanskrit at Allahabad University
• Bhudev Mukhopadhyay, CIE, former Director of Public Instructions
• Haraprasad Shastri, former Principal of Sanskrit College, Calcutta

Journalists

• M. J. Akbar, former editor, The Asian Age
• Krishna Mohan Banerjee, publisher of Inquirer
• Pramatha Chaudhuri, former editor of Sabuj Patra
• Rasik Krishna Mallick, former editor, Jnananwesan.
• Rudrangshu Mukherjee, Opinions Editor, The Telegraph
• Udayan Mukherjee, Managing Editor, CNBC India.
• Pritish Nandy, former editor, Illustrated Weekly of India
• Akshay Chandra Sarkar, former editor, Sadharani
• Ayon Sengupta, Editor, Sportstar

Poets, novelists and nonfiction writers

• Manik Bandopadhyay, novelist
• Rajnarayan Basu, writer and Brahmo
• Rajsekhar Basu, novelist
• Samit Basu, novelist
• Sasthi Brata, writer
• Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, poet and novelist
• Shakti Chattopadhyay, poet
• Jibanananda Das, poet
• Henry Louis Vivan Derozio, poet
• Michael Madhusudan Dutt, poet
• Shankha Ghosh, poet
• Shahidullah Kaiser, winner of Bangla Academy Award
• Peary Chand Mitra, novelist; author of the first true Bengali novel, Alaaler ghorer dulal
• Acharya Kuber Nath Rai, writer of Hindi literature
• Dwijendralal Ray, poet, playwright and musician
• Sukumar Ray, poet and humourist
• Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury, writer
• Bhabendra Nath Saikia, novelist
• Jyotirindranath Tagore, poet and novelist

Artists and musicians

• Pritam Chakraborty, Bollywood music director; sound engineer
• Devajyoti Ray, artist
• Dilipkumar Roy, singer
• Atulprasad Sen, singer
• Dwijendranath Tagore, musician

Filmmakers, theatre personalities and actors

• Pramathesh Barua, actor and director
• Chhabi Biswas, actor.
• Bibhas Chakraborty, theatre artist
• Ashok Kumar, winner of the Dadasaheb Phalke Award (1988)
• Dinabandhu Mitra, author of Nildarpan
• Srijit Mukherji, filmmaker
• Satyajit Ray, film director; winner of an Oscar for Lifetime Achievement (1992)
• Aparna Sen, actress
• Subrata Sen, filmmaker, author

Sportspersons

• Vece Paes, member of the bronze medal-winning Indian hockey team at the Munich Olympics (1972)
• Jyotindranath Roy (Kanu Roy), member of the 1911 IFA Shield-winning Mohun Bagan team

Faculty members

• Syed Ameer Ali, former Judge of the High Court of Calcutta; lecturer in Islamic Law
• Jagadish Chandra Bose, physicist, professor of physics
• Bishnu Dey, poet; winner of Sahitya Academy Award and Rashtriya Jnanpith Award
• Anil Kumar Gain, mathematician and statistician from the University of Cambridge; Fellow of the Royal Society
• Rabindra Kumar Das Gupta, former Director, National Library, Calcutta; Offtg. Professor of English
• David Lester Richardson, former Principal of Hindu College, Calcutta
• Prafulla Chandra Roy, founder of Bengal Chemical and Pharmaceutical Works; Assistant Professor of Chemistry
• Katyayanidas Bhattacharya, Philosopher & former Professor, Department of Philosophy, Presidency College, Calcutta^[48]

References