Peary Chand Mitra

Peary Chand Mitra was an Indian writer, journalist, cultural activist and entrepreneur. He was a member of Henry Derozios Young Bengal group, who played a leading role in the Bengal renaissance with the introduction of simple Bengali prose. His Alaler Gharer Dulal pioneered the novel in the Bengali language, leading to a tradition taken up by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee and others. Mitra died onNovember 1883 in Kolkata.

Mitra was born at Kolkata onJuly 1814. His father, Ramnarayan Mitra, moved from Panisehala, Hughli District to Kolkata in early life and was one of those 18th century businessmen who made their fortunes as banians to European merchants and officials. As per the custom of the day, he started learning Persian at a young age and in 1827 joined the Hindu College, where he started learning English. While still a student he started a school in his own home to teach others in his locality what he learnt. At some point in time his friends Rasik Krishna Mallick, Radhanath Sikdar and Sib Chandra Deb joined him to bolster his efforts. David Hare and Derozio helped him as well.

Source: Wikipedia