Henry Louis Vivian Derozio was an influential Indian poet, educator, and assistant headmaster at Hindu College, Calcutta, who was known as the "storm bird" of the Bengal Renaissance. He was a radical thinker and one of the first Indian educators to disseminate Western learning and science among the youth of Bengal. He was known as the "storm bird" of the Bengal Renaissance.
Early Life and Education
Henry Louis Vivian Derozio was born on April 18, 1809, in Entally-Padmapukur, Kolkata. His parents were Francis Derozio, a Christian Indo-Portuguese office worker, and Sophia Johnson Derozio, an Anglo-Indian woman. His original family name was "do Rozário."
Derozio attended Dharmatala Academy from age of 6 to 14. He later praised his early schooling for its liberal approach to education, particularly its unusual decision to teach Indian, Eurasian, and European children from different social classes together as peers. His later religious skepticism is sometimes attributed to David Drummond, who was known as a freethinker.
Derozio was a successful student; notices in the India Gazette and the Calcutta Journal at the time highlighted his academic excellence, including several academic prizes, as well as his successful performances in student plays. While still a student, he read the poetry of his contemporaries John Keats, Percy Shelley, and Lord Byron.
At age 14, he left school to work. He initially joined his father's office in Kolkata but later moved to his uncle's indigo factory in Bhagalpur, Bihar. Inspired by the scenic beauty of the banks of the River Ganges, he began writing poetry, which he submitted to the India Gazette. His poetic career flourished, with poems published in multiple newspapers and periodicals in 1825.
Death and Legacy
Derozio died of cholera on December 26, 1831, at the age of 22. He was buried in South Park Street Cemetery. Long after his death, his influence lived on among his former students, who came to be known as Young Bengal, many of whom became prominent in social reform, law, and journalism. A commemorative postage stamp was issued in his honour on 15 December 2009.
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