Ramananda Chatterjee (English: Ramananda Chatterjee, born- May 29, 1865, Bankura district, Bengal; died- September 30, 1943, Kolkata) was a pioneer personality in the world of journalism. He was the founder, editor and owner of the magazine ‘Modern Review’ published from Kolkata. He is considered the “Father of Indian Journalism”.
He worked especially in the field of journalism. Apart from this, he worked as a teacher and principal. Ramanand Chatterjee was born on May 29, 1865 in Bankura district, Bengal. He received his education from Calcutta and Bankura. He passed the postgraduate examination in English from Calcutta University in 1890 in first division. He was greatly influenced by Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose and Shivnath Shastri. He also received a proposal to go to England to study further, but Ramanand did not accept it. By then he was already under the influence of Brahmo Samaj.
Ramanand Chatterjee was a pioneer personality in the world of journalism. He brought out magazines like Pravasi, Bengal Bhasha, ‘Modern Review’ in English and ‘Vishal Bharat’. Ramanand Chatterjee started publishing the famous Indian monthly newspaper ‘Modern Review’ in December 1906. In 1901 AD, he edited the Bengali language newspaper ‘Pravasi’. While still a student, he had taken up the job of editing ‘The Indian Messenger’ and used to write regularly in the Bengali paper ‘Sanjeevani’. When he came in contact with a social organization named ‘Deshashray’, he also edited its mouthpiece ‘Dasi’. He also helped in editing the children’s magazine ‘Mukul’ and the literary magazine ‘Pradeep’. It was through him that Ramanand was introduced to Rabindranath Tagore. Soon this magazine named ‘Pravasi’ became a very favorite magazine of Bengali speaking people. It became a very famous letter of its time. High quality writers used to send their works in it. Its editorial comments were informative and inspiring.[1]
After some time, Ramanand Chatterjee was appointed to the post of Principal of Kayastha School, Allahabad and he came to Allahabad from Kolkata. Meanwhile, due to caste discrimination, he had to resign from Kayastha School.
Ramanand Chatterjee became the President of Hindu Mahasabha a few years later. Because of his reputation as a journalist the League of Nations invited him to Geneva to see its operations firsthand. Then he also visited different countries of Europe. He also received an invitation from Russia, but due to restrictions on expression there, he did not accept it. He was one of the founders of ‘Pravasi Banga Sahitya Sammelan’ and was also its president.
Ramanand was a strong supporter of the Indian National Congress. After a few years, he supported Congress Nationalist Party and Hindu Sabha. Ramanand was a strong supporter of freedom of editorial thought.
Ramananda Chatterjee died on September 30, 1943 in Kolkata.
