M. N. Roy

M. N. Roy
Manabendra Nath Roy
Born	Narendra Nath Bhattacharya (1887-03-21)21 March 1887 Changripota, 24 Parganas, Bengal Presidency, British India
Died	26 January 1954(1954-01-26) (aged 66)
Nationality	Indian
Alma mater	Bengal Technical Institute, Communist University of the Toilers of the East
Organization	Jugantar, Communist Party of India, Communist Party of Mexico,
Movement	Indian revolutionary movement, Hindu–German Conspiracy

Manabendra Nath Roy (21 March 1887 – 26 January 1954), born Narendra Nath Bhattacharya, was an Indian revolutionary, radical activist and political theorist, as well as a noted philosopher in the 20th century. Roy was a founder of the Mexican Communist Party and the Communist Party of India. He was also a delegate to congresses of the Communist International and Russia's aide to China. Following the rise of Joseph Stalin, Roy left the mainline communist movement to pursue an independent radical politics. In 1940 Roy was instrumental in the formation of the Radical Democratic Party, an organisation in which he played a leading role for much of the decade of the 1940s. Roy later moved away from Marxism to become an exponent of the philosophy of radical humanism.

Narendra Nath "Naren" Bhattacharya, later known as M. N. Roy, was born on 21 March 1887 at Arbelia, located in the North 24 Parganas of West Bengal, near Calcutta (Kolkata).

The Bhattacharyas were Sakta brahmins – a family of hereditary priests. Naren's paternal grandfather was the head priest of the goddess Ksheputeswari in the village of Ksheput, located in the Midnapore district of West Bengal. Naren's father also served for a time in priestly capacity there, although the large size of his family – he being one of 11 siblings – forced a relocation to the village of Arbelia and a change of occupation.

Following the death of his first wife, the elder Bhattacharya married Basantakumari Devi, the niece of Dwarkanath Vidyabhusan and was appointed as a teacher of Sanskrit in the nearby Arbelia English school. The couple had a total of eight children, including the fourth-born Naren.

Naren Bhattacharya's early schooling took place at Arbelia. In 1898 the family moved to Kodalia. Bhattacharya continued his studies at the Harinavi Anglo-Sanskrit School, at which his father taught, until 1905.