DrZakirHussainBiography

Dr Zakir Hussainwas the third President of Independent India.He was an educationist and was co-founder of the JamiaMiliaIslamia.

QuickFacts

Nationality Indian

Religion Muslim

Bornon 08February1897AD

ZodiacSign Aquarius

Bornin Hyderabad,India

Diedon 03May1969AD

Father FidaHussainKhan

Mother NazninBegum

Spouse: ShahJahanBegum

AwardsPadmaVibhushan(1954)BharatRatna(1963)

Dr Zakir Hussain was the third President of India and the firstMuslim to occupy that post. He was a renowned educationistand intellectual and his contribution in the development ofmodern India througheducation is invaluable.Fromyoungage,Zakir Hussain developed a fascination for politics which hestrived to fulfil through education. He slowly and steadilyclimbed up the social ladder as an educationist and soonbecame one of the most prominent educational thinkers andpractitioners of modern India. Hussain strongly believed in thefact that national renaissance could not be attained throughactive politics all alone. He understood the importance thateducation would play and thus, indulged himself completely init. For 22 years, he served as Vice Chancellor of Jamia MiliaIslamia, making it one of the most distinguished centres oflearning. He spent his entire life working for the cause ofeducation and value of secularism. For his services to thecountry he was awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highestnationalhonour.

Childhood&Early LifeZakirHussainwasborn toFidaHussainKhanandNazninBegum on February 8, 1897, in Kaimganj, Farrukhabad.His family, which originally was based in Hyderabad, hadmigrated toKaimganj.Hewas the thirdof thesevensonsborntothecouple.

His early yearswere full of tragic episodes, as his fatherdied when young Hussain was merely ten years of age.Within three years, his mother too passed away leaving

Hussainandhissixsiblingsorphaned.

He completed his early education from Islamia HighSchool in Etawah after which he enrolled at the AngloMuhammadan Oriental College, which is now popular bythenameofAligarhMuslimUniversity.

Itwaswhileatcollegethathedevelopedafascinationandbent for politics that shaped the future course of his life.At college, he served as a prominent student leader. In1918,hepassedhisB.A.Honorsand joinedM.A.,but theKhilafat and Non-Co-operation Movement led byMahatama Gandhi, inspired him to leave the governmentadministeredcollege.

CareerIn 1920, he led a small group of students and teachersand together they founded theNationalMuslimUniversityatAligarh in October 1920. Five years later, they shiftedthe university to Karol Bagh before finally shifting it toJamia Nagar in New Delhi, where it eventually was re-christenedasJamiaMiliaUniversity.

For twoyears, from1920 to1922,he tookup thepositionof a teacher at JamiaMiliaUniversity.However, his deepembedded interest in education invoked yet again andhemoved to Germany to gain his PhD degree in Economicsfrom the Frederick William University of Berlin, which heeventuallybaggedin1926.

ItwasinGermanythathecameoutwithacollectionofthebest works of the greatest Urdu poet Mirza AssadullahKhan‘Ghalib’.

Upon returning to India, while other political bigwigsactively involved themselves in politics and MahatamaGandhi’s Swaraj and Civil Disobedience Movement, hetook a different approach and aimed to contribute in thefreedomstrugglebyusingeducationasthechieftool.

In 1927, He took over as the head of JamiaMilia IslamiaUniversity, which had steeply declined in popularity and

was facing the threat of closure due to financialconstraints.Heaimedtorevivetheuniversity.

For the next twenty-two years, he tirelessly workeduplifting the academic and managerial standard of theuniversity.Itwasunderhisleadershipthattheeducationalinstitutenotjustmanagedtostayafloat,butcontributedintheIndianstruggleforfreedomfromtheBritishRule.

Theeducational instituteunderhis leadershipstuck to itsobjective of spreading education among the masses. Hestrongly believed in the fact that national renaissancecould not just be gained through active politics all alone.Reformativeeducationwouldplayadominantroleaswell.

As an educator and teacher, he propagated the teachingof Mahatma Gandhi and Hakim Ajmal Khan andexperimented with value-based education. No sooner, hebecameoneofthemostcelebratededucationalthinkersofthecountry

Hethencebecameanactivememberof initializingseveraleducational reformmovements in India. It was due to hisconstant and untiring efforts that he gained appreciationfrom arch political rivals like Mohammad Ali Jinnah aswell.

In 1937, when Congress won amajority and successfullyformed an interim government, a national educationalconferencewas called upon to establish a national policyof education. He along with Gandhi supported a work-centrededucationinsteadofthebook-centredone.

OnOctober23, 1937, hewaselectedas theChairmanoftheEducationCommittee.Hiswork involved formulatingascheme of basic education as discussed in theconference.HesubmittedhisreportonDecember1937.

In 1948, soon after India gained independence, hebecame the Vice Chancellor of the Aligarh MuslimUniversity, which faced a crisis situation, as some of itsteachers were actively involved in the partition of thecountry and vouched their support for creation of a

separatestateofPakistan.

Following his term as a Vice Chancellor, he wasnominated to theUpperHouse of theParliament in 1956.However, just after a year of being a Rajya Sabhamember, he was appointed as the Governor of State ofBihar, a position he served for five years, from 1957 to1962.

In1962,hewasappointedas theVicePresidentof India.He held the profile for a full five year term, before beingelected to the chair of the President of India on May 13,1967. With this, he created history by being the firstMuslimtooccupysuchaprestigiouspost.

During his presidential tenure, he marvelled all with hisgentleness, courteousness and sense of humanity. Hewas kind and tender to all irrespective of their social,political and economic status. He led four state visits toHungary,Yugoslavia,USSRandNepal.

MajorWorksHe not only founded Jamia Milia Islamia University butservedas itsViceChancellor aswell.Hehas contributedso much to the institution that the history of the two hasbecomeinseparableandidentical

Awards&AchievementsIn1954,hewasawardedPadmaVibhushan

In 1963, he was conferred with India’s highest nationalhonour,BharatRatna.

PersonalLife &LegacyFollowingthetraditionofearlymarriage,hemarriedattheageof18 in1915 toShahJahanBegum.Thecouplewasblessed with two daughters, Sayeeda Khan and SafiaRahman.

His grandson,SalmanKhurshid, took forward his politicallegacy by serving as aCongress politician.He even tookuptheprofileoftheForeignMinisterofIndiaintheformergovernment.

He breathed his last on May 3, 1969 thus becoming thefirstIndianPresidenttodieinoffice.HewasburiedonthecampusofJamiaMilia Islamia inNewDelhi,alongsidehiswife.A grand mausoleum was constructed in Jamia MiliaIslamia in the honor of his contributions and works. Thegreatestcontributionhemadeinhislifealsoservesasthebiggest example of a legacy of his work which runs tilldate in the formofJamiaMilia Islamia,whichhasbecomeone of the most distinguished centres of learning inmodernIndia.