Rashbihari Ghosh

Sir Rashbehari Ghosh CSI, CIE (23 December 1845 – 1921) was an Indian politician, lawyer, social worker and philanthropist.

Rashbehari Ghosh was born on 23 December 1845 at Torkona village in Khandaghosh area in Burdwan district in Bengal Presidency. He was educated in the Burdwan Raj Collegiate School, after which he entered Presidency College, Kolkata. He obtained a first class in the MA examination in English. In 1871, he passed with honours the Law examination and was awarded the degree of Doctor of Laws in 1884.

Ghosh became a member of the Indian National Congress and leaned towards the moderate wing. He had deep faith in progress but was opposed to radicalism in any form. He served as the President of the Congress for two terms (Surat, 1907 and Madras, 1908), succeeding Dadabhai Naoroji.

Ghosh was a member of the Bengal Legislative Council (1891–94, 1906–9) and the Council of India. He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire (CIE) in the 1896 New Year Honours and appointed a Companion of the Order of the Star of India (CSI) in the 1909 Birthday Honours. He was knighted in the 1915 New Year Honours and conferred with his knighthood on 14 July of that year.

Ghosh's ability and contributions earned him a series of honours, such as the Tagore Law Professorship (1875–76) at Calcutta University and an honorary DL degree from Calcutta University (1884).

He made a fortune through his legal practice, but donated much of it by way of charity and endowments. In 1913, he established an endowment for scientific studies at Calcutta University with an initial capital of ten lakh rupees. He also donated 13 lakh rupees to establish a National Council of Education (NCE) at Jadavpur. It later became Jadavpur University. Ghosh was the first president of NCE.

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