Gnanendramohan Tagore, the first Asian to be called to the Bar in England, died on this day. He was the son of Prasanna Coomar Tagore, Hindu law expert and philanthropist, and grandson of Gopi Mohan Tagore, who was one of the founders of Hindu College. They represented the Pathuriaghata branch of the Tagore family.
Gnanendramohan had won a scholarship of Rs 40 per month and joined Calcutta Medical College in 1842, but did not complete the course. At Hindu College, Rajnarain Bose and Gobinda Chandra Dutt, father of the poet Toru Dutt, were his classmates.
The institution, which was teaching a secular curriculum despite its name and raising the eyebrows of orthodox sections of the Hindu society, had many of its students converting to Christianity. Gnanendramohan became one of them by embracing Christianity in 1851 under the influence of Krishna Mohan Banerjee and married his daughter Kamalmani.
Outraged, Prasanna Coomar disowned Gnanendramohan and left his vast property to his nephew, Jatindramohan Tagore. Gnanendramohan regained some of the property later by going to court.
In 1859, Gnanendramohan left for England with his wife and joined the University of London as professor of Hindu Law and Bengali. Soon, he passed law exams and was called to the Bar from Lincoln’s Inn in 1862. He came back to India in 1864 and began to practice at Calcutta High Court in 1865. He lost his wife in 1869 and went back to England with his two daughters.
He hosted Gnanadanandini, wife of Satyendranath Tagore, with her children for some time when they visited England in 1877. He died in England. He was 64.
