Biography
Born in Bengali family in the Bengal and was a Hindu Kulin Brahmin, he did M.A., Ph.D., D.Litt, and was the first Indian to receive a Doctor of Philosophy degree (from the University of Calcutta). Mookerjee's doctorate was in English literature, and he went on to become a philanthropist, and teacher.
At Calcutta University, he served at various positions—as lecturer, secretary, council of Post-Graduate Teaching in Arts, Inspector of Colleges, professor of English from 1936 to 1940, and head of English department. He was later nominated to "Bengal Legislative Council" and elected to "Bengal Legislative Assembly."
While he was vice-president of the Constituent Assembly of India, and chairman of the Minority rights sub-committee and Provincial constitution committee, he began suggesting reservation for the upliftment of minorities in all fields, including politics. With partition of India, he changed his stance and limited it to provision for preservation of the language and culture of minorities—over the period, this has been interpreted to open educational institutes and other institutions by minority communities.
Following the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly, Dr. Mookerjee was appointed Governor of West Bengal from November 1, 1951 through August 8, 1956. While working as Bengal governor, he served as the president of "DeshBandhu Memorial Society" from 1953. He died in office on August 8, 1956.
Read more about this topic: Harendra Coomar Mookerjee
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