Utkalmani Pandit Gopabandhu Das

Popularly known as Utkalmani (the jewel of Odisha) Pandit Gopabandhu Das was one of the first messengers of the gospel of freedom in the country.

He was born on 9th October 1877 in a small village called Suando in the Satyabadi police station area of Puri district.

After completing his early education from the village school he passed his "Entrance" from the District School of Puri" in the year 1899. He passed his B.A from Revenshaw College in 1904 and later passed B.L. from Calcutta University in 1906.

In the year 1912 he gave up his lucrative practice at the bar and dedicated himself to the freedom movement.

He was also associated with the Lok Sevak Mandal and came into close contact with Lala Lajpat Rai and Pandit Amrit Lal Thakkar. Besides being in the forefront of the struggle for freedom, Shri Gopabadhu Das was also a great educationalist. The Satyabadi High School in Puri District is a living monument to hi devotion and services to the cause of education.

He was also a poet and author. His most important work was " Bandira Atmakatha" (the story of a prisoner). he also laboured in the cause of social reform and was an advocate of liberalism when conservation had a strong hold in the society.

	OTHER HISTORIC PERSONS OF ODISHA
	Bhumiputra Biju Patnaik, The Unique Mass Leader of Odisha
	Sri Krushna Chandra Gajapati Narayan Deo
	Vir Surendra Sai; The Indomitable Hero of Odisha
	Biswanath Das; A Patriot With Difference
	Dr. Harekrushna Mahatab: An illustrious son of Odisha
	Nabakrushna Choudhury
	Dr. Radhanath Rath: Doyen of Odisha journalism

  Shri Gopabandhu Das was also a legislature                  having      been a member of the Bihar and Odisha legislative Assembly from 1917 to 1920. He was also the President of Odisha congress till 1928

    He breathed his last in the evening of seventeenth of June nineteen hundred and twentyeight. It was on the Nabajauban Darshan of Lord Jagannath on the eve of Car festival of that year. Thus came the end of one of the most celebrated life of Odisha. The father of modern Utkal died at the age of fifty-one. Though, he is dead, yet his memory remains in the hearts of millions of people.

 

Utkal Gouraba Madhusudan Das

Madhusudan Das was a person with great values and virtues. He was born on 28 April 1848 in a village called Satyabhamapur, 20 kilometres from silver city, Cuttack.

Madhusudan Das had his early education in the village school, learning all subjects, including Persian, from a maulvi. After his early education, he moved to Cuttack High School (later known as Ravenshaw Collegiate School). He passed his B.A in 1870 and later completed his MA, LLB in 1873 from Calcutta University. He was Lecture in law in Revenshaw College for sometime.

During the British rule, the Oriya people were neglected having been divided into four different states. So his main aim was to bring all the Oriya under one independent rule. He therefore organised "Utkal samilani" in the year 1903 and started a revolution called "Desha Mishrana Andolan".

He took part in the struggle for Independence and also took part in the meetings of "National Congress" held at Mandraj, Bombay, Calcutta etc. But when he found out that the congress was not in support, for Odisha to be declared a separate state he resigned from the congress. He was the President in the Utkal Samilani held in the year 1913 and 1918.

He will always be remembered as the founder of "New Utkal"