Bethune College

Bethune College is a women's college located on Bidhan Sarani in Kolkata, India, and affiliated to the University of Calcutta. It is the oldest women's college in India. It was established as a girls' school in 1849, and as a college in 1879. It was in news in 2019 for adding Humanity column in the place of religion in its undergraduate application form which is a measure first undertaken by any college in India.

For the constituent college of York University in Toronto, Canada, see York University § Colleges and residences. For the college in the United States, see Bethune-Cookman College.

Bethune College
Bethune College c. 1949
MottoViddaya Vindatey Amritam
TypeWomen's college
Established1849 (1849)
PrincipalProfessor Krishna Roy
Location
Kolkata
,
West Bengal
,
India

22.5882°N 88.3679°E / 22.5882; 88.3679
CampusUrban
AffiliationsUniversity of Calcutta
Websitebethunecollege.ac.in
Location in West Bengal
Bethune College (India)

History
A 1999 stamp dedicated to the Bethune College

The college was founded as the Calcutta Female School in 1849 by John Elliot Drinkwater Bethune,[1] with the financial support of Dakshinaranjan Mukherjee. The school started in Mukherjee's home in Baitakkhana, with 21 girls enrolled.[2] The following year, enrolment rose to 80.[3] In November, on a plot on the west side of Cornwallis Square, the cornerstone for a permanent school building was laid. The name "Hindu Female School" was inscribed on the copper-plate placed in the stone and on the ceremonial silver trowel made for the occasion.[4] Support for the school waned after Bethune's death in August 1851.[3]

The government took it over in 1856, renaming it Bethune School after its founder in 1862–63.[1] In 1879 it was developed into Bethune College, the first women's college in India and Bethune school was first women's school in whole Asia.

Notable alumnae
gollark: Frankly, I doubt it.
gollark: Oh no. Initiating emergency heavdrones.
gollark: If it's changed, they *will* be able to.
gollark: However, it *is* only forbidden because andrewdrone is a horrible name.
gollark: Don't worry. The PotatOS privacy policy forbids it from harming you.

See also

References
  1. Acharya, Poromesh (1990). "Education in Old Calcutta". In Chaudhuri, Sukanta (ed.). Calcutta: The Living City. Volume I: The Past. Oxford University Press. p. 87. ISBN 978-0-19-563696-3.
  2. Bagal, Jogesh Chandra (1949). "History of the Bethune School & College (1849–1949)". In Nag, Kalidas; Ghose, Lotika (eds.). Bethune School & College Centenary Volume, 1849–1949. Bethune College. p. 11–12.
  3. Forbes, Geraldine Hancock (1999). Women in Modern India. The New Cambridge History of India. IV.2. Cambridge University Press. p. 39. ISBN 978-0-521-65377-0.
  4. Bagal, Jogesh Chandra (1949). "History of the Bethune School & College (1849–1949)". In Nag, Kalidas; Ghose, Lotika (eds.). Bethune School & College Centenary Volume, 1849–1949. Bethune College. p. 15-16.
  5. Ray, Bharati (1990). "Women in Calcutta: The Years of Change". In Chaudhuri, Sukanta (ed.). Calcutta: The Living City. Volume II: The Present and Future. Oxford University Press. p. 34. ISBN 978-0-19-563697-0.
  6. Southard, Barbara (May 1993). Colonial Politics and Women's Rights: Woman Suffrage Campaigns in Bengal, British India in the 1920s. Modern Asian Studies. 27. p. 405–406. JSTOR 312775.
  7. Ghosh, Durba (August 2013). Revolutionary Women and Nationalist Heroes in Bengal, 1930 to the 1980s. Gender & History. 25. p. 355–375.

Further reading
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