Benoy Kumar Sarkar


Benoy Kumar Sarkar was an Indian social scientist, professor, and nationalist. He founded several institutes in Calcutta, including the Bengali Institute of Sociology, Bengali Asia Academy, Bengali Dante Society, and Bengali Institute of American Culture.

Early life and education

Sarkar entered the University of Calcutta at the age of 13 after standing first at the entrance examination, while he graduated in 1905, at 18, with dual degrees in english and history. The following year he received his master's degree.

Career

In 1925 Sarkar started as a lecturer at the Department of Economics of University of Calcutta. He praised Nazism as "form of benevolent dictatorship", and advocated the establishment of a fascist dictatorship in India. In 1947 he became a professor and head of the department. He died on a trip to the United States in Washington, DC, in November 1949.

Selected publications

Sarkar wrote in five languages, his native Bengali, English, German, French and Italian, publishing a large volume of work on a variety of topics, including 53 books and booklets in English alone, his written production amounting in all to some 30 000 pages. A complete list of his publications is contained in Bandyopadhyay's book The Political Ideas of Benoy Kumar Sarkar.