Sarangadhar Das
{{short description|Indian politician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}}
{{Use Indian English|date=October 2021}}
{{Infobox person
|name = Sarangadhar Das
|image = Portrait drawing of Sarangadhar Das.jpg
|image_size = 150px
|alt =
|caption =
|birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1886|10|17}}
|birth_place = Dhenkanal princely state, British India
|birth_name =
|alma_mater = Ravenshaw College
Tokyo Institute of Technology
University of California, Berkeley
|death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1957|09|18|1886|10|17}}
|death_place = Cuttack, Odisha, India
|honors =
|known_for = Indian freedom movement
|footnotes =
|spouse=Frieda Hauswirth
}}
Sarangadhar Das (1886—1957) was an Indian nationalist revolutionary and Orissa politician.{{cite news|last=Nayak|first=Jatin Kumar|title=Orissa Whispers|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110307/jsp/orissa/story_13677117.jsp|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130921233109/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110307/jsp/orissa/story_13677117.jsp|url-status=dead|archive-date=21 September 2013|accessdate=21 September 2013|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=7 March 2011}}{{Cite web|title=First Lok Sabha Members Bioprofile: Shri Sarangadhar Das|url=http://loksabhaph.nic.in/writereaddata/biodata_1_12/679.htm|access-date=July 10, 2021|website=Parliament of India, Lok Sabha}} Das fought against the feudal chiefs in Orissa (present day Odisha) and, post-independence, was a member of India's Constituent Assembly, a Member of Parliament, and a leader of the Socialist Party.
Early life
Sarangadhar Das was born in Dhenkanal in 1886, the son of Harekrishna Sumanta Patnaik.
Education
He studied at the Ravenshaw College in Cuttack.
In 1907, he traveled to Japan to study at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, with financial support from the King of Dhenkanal.{{Citation needed|date=July 2021}}
In 1909,{{Citation needed|date=July 2021}} he traveled to the United States, where he studied sugar technology at the University of California, Berkeley. He then worked as a chief chemist at a sugar factory in Honolulu, Hawaii.{{Citation needed|date=July 2021}} In 1911, while in Berkeley, he published an informational document called "Information for Indian Students Intending to Come to the Pacific Coast of the United States", that contained practical information and advice about student life for Indians in the United States.{{Cite web|title=At the University|url=https://guides.lib.berkeley.edu/echoes-of-freedom/university|website=Echoes of Freedom: South Asian Pioneers in California, 1899-1965|publisher=University of California, Berkeley Library}}
Return to India
After returning to India, Sarangadhar tried establishing a sugar factory in Orissa, but failed. He then worked as an activist against the feudal chiefs who held power at the time.{{Citation needed|date=July 2021}}
Political life
File:Sarangadhar Das 2024 stamp of India.png
From 1937 to 1946, he was the General Secretary of the Orissa States People's Conference. He was President of the Orissa and C.P. States Regional Council from 1946 to 1947. He was also a member of the Standing Committee of the All India States People's Conference from 1939-1943, and its General Secretary from 1947-1948.
His political career included both the Congress Party and the socialist parties. He was a member of the AICC from 1939 to 1945, and of the Orissa Legislative Assembly from 1946 to 1949. He then resigned from Congress and joined the Socialist Party.
Das joined the Constituent Assembly of India charged with framing newly independent India's constitution, and of the Provisional Parliament.
He served as Chairman of the Socialist Party (Utkal) from 1951 to 1952, and Deputy Leader of the Praja Socialist Party in the House of the People, from 1952 to 1953.
He remained with the Socialist Party until his death in 1957.{{cite web|title=Echoes of Freedom: South Asian Pioneers in California, 1899-1965|url=http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/SSEAL/echoes/chapter6/chapter6.html|publisher=The Library, University of California, Berkeley|accessdate=21 September 2013}}
According to his Lok Sabha profile, his areas of interest included "basic education and work among Adivasis and Harijans, and the education of peasants and labourers."
Publications
References
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Category:Tokyo Institute of Technology alumni
Category:University of California, Berkeley alumni
Category:Indian independence activists from Odisha
Category:Members of the Constituent Assembly of India
Category:Politicians from Honolulu
Category:People from Dhenkanal