Mira Datta Gupta
| Mira Dutta Gupta | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1907 Calcutta, Bengal |
| Died | 1983 (aged 76) Calcutta, West Bengal |
| Alma mater | Bethune College, Calcutta |
| Occupation | Educationist and politician |
Mira Datta Gupta (Bengali: মীরা দত্ত গুপ্ত) (5 October, 1907 - 18 January, 1983) was a well-known freedom fighter, social worker, educationist, politician and activist on women's issues in Calcutta, India. She was a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) in Bengal and then West Bengal for twenty years from 1937 to 1957, firstly representing Women's constituency in 1937, and then Bhowanipore from 1952 to 1957. She was the first MLA from Bhowanipore.
She was the daughter of Sarat Datta Gupta, IAAS, Accountant General of India (retd.) and Sarajubala Datta Gupta (née Sen). She was born on 5 October at her maternal grandparents' house in Dhaka. Her paternal ancestors owned substantial tracts of land in the Tarpasha side of Jainshar village in Dhaka district, which the family held until the second partition of Bengal in 1947. Her paternal relatives were however not significantly affected by the partition since most members of the family had been living and working in Calcutta since the end of the nineteenth century. In Calcutta she lived with her parents for the most part of her life at 41, Hazra Road.
One of her nephews was Shanti Dasgupta, MLA, who was an education minister in the Government of West Bengal (1972-77). Her nephew-in-law was Barun De.
She was a brilliant student of St. John's Diocesan, Calcutta and Bethune College, Calcutta. She completed her MSc in mathematics at the University of Calcutta, coming first class second in the examination in 1930.
Her parents were greatly inspired by patriotic feelings and she too absorbed these ideas as she was growing up. Since her father was a senior government official, the police did not suspect her of being a revolutionary worker for a long time. She secretly kept documents and even arms and ammunition for revolutionary party workers at her family home in Hazra Road. During the Calcutta Riots of 1946 she gave shelter to both Muslim and Hindu riot victims. In this endeavour she had the active backing of her family members, including her parents. In the initial years of her political career, she was a member of the Indian National Congress, but later disillusioned by the INC, she joined the Forward Bloc.
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