Sri Aurobindo

At the age of 28, Aurobindo Ghosee married Mrinalini, daughter of Bhupal Chandra Bose, a senior government official, in 1901.

Mrinalini died in December 1918 during the influenza pandemic.

Sri Aurobindo passed away on December 5, 1950.

Aurobindo Ghose was born on August 15, 1872 to Krishna Dhun Ghose, and his wife Swarnalotta Devi in Kolkata (Bengal Presidency), India.

His father, who was an Assistant Surgeon in Rangapur, Bengal, was an ardent fan of the British culture so he encouraged his children to learn English and study in schools where his children would be exposed to Christianity. He was sent to Loreto House boarding school with his male siblings in Darjeeling, the hub of British Culture in India.

Aurobindo’s inclinations to social reforms and evolutions can be attributed to his great-grandfather’s close involvement in the Brahmo Samaj religious reform Movement

At a tender age of seven he was sent to England and stayed there for fourteen years.

Starting from St. Pauls School (1884), he attained scholarship and made it to King’s College, Cambridge (1890). His dedication and sharp intellect helped him clear the Indian Civil Service exam too.

Aurobindo Ghose came back to India in 1893 after getting a job with the royal family of Baroda (Gaekwad). He was fluent with many foreign languages but less familiar with Indian culture.

He spent twelve years in Baroda serving as a teacher, secretary to the Maharaja of Gaekwad and also the Vice Principal of Baroda College thereby becoming more familiar with his mother tongue and Indian traditions.

It was only after staying in India for twelve long years that Aurobindo could understand the harm that the British rule had done to the Indian civilization and he slowly and gradually started showing interest in politics.

His initial political activism involved emphasis on the urgency of demanding total freedom from the British government.

While in the services of the Baroda administration, he contributed articles to ‘Indu Prakash’ and covertly got in touch with resistance groups in Bengal and Madhya Pradesh

He finally moved to Kolkata in the year 1906 after the announcement of the partition of Bengal. Publicly, Aurobindo supported non-co-operation and passive resistance to the British rule but in private he was involved in secret revolutionary activities and helped build the revolutionary atmosphere in the country.

In Bengal, he got in touch with revolutionaries and inspired young revolutionaries such as Bagha Jatin, Jatin Banerjee and Surendranath Tagore. He was also instrumental in the formation of several youth clubs including the Anushilan Samiti.

In 1906, he participated in the Indian National Congress annual session, which was headed by Dadabhai Naoroji. He helped in building the fourfold objectives of the national movement - Swaraj, Swadesh, Boycott and national education. He started a daily newspaper Bande Mataram in 1907.