Henry Louis Vivian Derozio


Henry Louis Vivian Derozio, was an Indian poet of Portuguese origin and assistant headmaster of Hindu College, Kolkata. He was a radical thinker of his time and one of the first Indian educators to disseminate Western learning and science among the young men of Bengal.
Long after his death, his legacy lived on among his former students, who came to be known as Young Bengal and many of whom became prominent in social reform, law, and journalism.

Biography

Early life

Henry Louis Vivian Derozio was born on 18 April 1809 at Entally-Padmapukur in Kolkata. His parents were Francis Derozio, a Christian Indo-Portuguese office worker, and Sophia Johnson Derozio, an Englishwoman. His original family name was 'De Rozario'.
Derozio attended David Drummond's Dhurramtallah Academy school, where he was a pupil from the age of six to fourteen. Derozio later praised his early schooling for its liberal approach to education, and particularly for its unusual choice to teach Indian, Eurasian and European children from different social classes together as peers. Derozio's later religious skepticism is sometimes attributed to influence from 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 mentioned Derozio's academic excellence and his success performances in student plays.
At age 14, Derozio left school to work. He initially joined his father's office in Kolkata, and later shifted to his uncle's indigo factory in Bhagalpur. Inspired by the scenic beauty of the banks of the River Ganges, he started writing poetry, which he submitted to the India Gazette. His poetic career began to flourish, with poems published in multiple newspapers and periodicals, in 1825.
In 1827, when Derozio was eighteen, the editor John Grant took notice of Derozio's poetry, offering to publish a book of his work and inviting him to return to Kolkata. He soon became an assistant editor for Grant, as well as publishing in several other periodicals, and founding his own newspaper, the Calcutta Gazette.

Hindu College and Young Bengals

In May 1826, at the age of 17, he was appointed teacher in English literature and history at the new Hindu College. Derozio's intense zeal for teaching and his interactions with students created a sensation at Hindu College. He organized debates where ideas and social norms were freely debated. At the age of 18, became a Professor of English Literature and History at the Hindu College. In 1828, he motivated his students to form a literary and debating club called the Academic Association.
This was a time when Hindu society in Bengal was undergoing considerable turmoil. In 1828, Raja Ram Mohan Roy established the Brahmo Samaj, which kept Hindu ideals but denied idolatry. This resulted in a backlash within orthodox Hindu society. Derozio helped release the ideas for social change already in the air. Despite his youth, he was considered a great scholar and a thinker. Within a short period, he drew around him a group of intelligent boys in college. He constantly encouraged them to think freely, to question and not to accept anything blindly. His teachings inspired the development of the spirit of liberty, equality, and freedom. They also tried to remove social evils, improve the condition of the women and the peasants, and promote liberty through freedom of the press, trial by jury, and so on. His activities brought about the intellectual revolution in Bengal. It was called the Young Bengal Movement and his students, also known as Derozians, were fiery patriots.
Due to backlash from conservative parents who disliked his wide-ranging and open discussion of religious issues, Derozio was dismissed from his post in April 1831, shortly before his death.
His students came to be known as Derozians. In 1838, after his death, members of the Young Bengal movement established a second society called the Society for the Acquisition of General Knowledge. Its main objective was to acquire and disseminate knowledge about the condition of the country.

Death

Derozio died of cholera at an early age of 22 on 26 December 1831 in Calcutta. His body was buried in South Park Street Cemetery of Kolkata.

Writing

Derozio was generally considered an Anglo-Indian, being of mixed Portuguese, Indian, and English descent, but he considered himself Indian. Derozio was known during his lifetime as the first 'national' poet of modern India, and the history of Anglo-Indian poetry typically begins with Derozio. His poems are regarded as an important landmark in the history of patriotic poetry in India, especially "To India - My Native Land" and The Fakeer of Jungheera. He is influenced by Romantic poetry, especially the orientalism of poets like Lord Byron and Robert Southey.

Publications

Derizio's ideas had a profound influence on the social movement that came to be known as the Bengal Renaissance in early 19th century Bengal. And despite being viewed as something of an iconoclast by Alexander Duff and other Christian Missionaries; later in Duff's Assembly's Institution, Derozio's ideas on the acceptance of the rational spirit were accepted partly as long as they were not in conflict with basic tenets of Christianity, and as long as they critiqued orthodox Hinduism.
Derozio is generally believed to be partly responsible for the conversion of upper-caste Hindus like Krishna Mohan Banerjee and Lal Behari Dey to Christianity. Samaren Roy, however, states that only three Hindu pupils among his first group of students became Christians, and asserts that Derozio had no role to play in their change of faith. He points out that Derozio's dismissal was sought not only by Hindus such as Ramkamal Sen, but also by Christians such as H. H. Wilson. Many other students like Tarachand Chakraborti became leaders in the Brahmo Samaj.
Derozio's political activities have also been seen as crucially important to the development of a public sphere in Calcutta during British imperialism.
A commemorative postage stamp of Derozio was issued on December 15, 2009.