Humayun Kabir

Humayun Kabir

Humayun Kabir was a politician, novelist, poet and educationist. He was born on 22 February 1906 at Komarpur, Faridpur, Bangladesh. He completed his matriculation in 1922 with star marks. He did his Intermediate in Arts with first class third from Presidency College. He completed his Bachelor of Arts (Honours) and Master of Arts in English with first class first. He won a scholarship to Exeter College, Oxford where he completed his degree in 'Modern Greats' in Philosophy, Political Science and Economics with a first class in 1931.
Kabir had been heavily involved with the Oxford Union during his student days, having been elected secretary in 1930 and librarian in 1931. He was invited by Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan to join as lecturer at the newly established Andhra University. Later, he was a Joint Education Adviser, Education Secretary and then Chairman of the University Grant Commission in Delhi. He was the minister of State for Civil Aviation, Education Minister of India twice, under the Prime Minister-ships of Jawaharlal Nehru and Lal Bahadur Shastri. He was also Scientific Research and Cultural Affairs Minister. In 1965, Indira Gandhi offered him the Madras Governor's post, which he declined. He was a member of Rajya Sabha fron 1956 to 1962 and member of Lok Sabha from 1962 to 1969, representing Basirhat Constituency in West Bengal.
He also became involved in trade union politics and was elected to the Bengal Legislative Assembly in 1937. He took up a number of government posts after 1947, including Minister for Education. He published a book of poems in Oxford in 1932 and continued to write poetry, short stories and novels after his return to India. He also wrote essays and was a well-respected orator. His notable writings including Imanuel Kant published in 1936; Shart Sahityer Multattava in 1942; Banglar Kavya in 1945; Marxbad in 1951; Poetry, Monads and Society in 1941; Muslim Politics in Bengal in 1943; Rabindranath Tagore in 1945; Nodi O Nari.