WBMPA pays homage to six print stalwarts from the East

Panchanan Karmakar: During his stint in an iron-casting factory with British East India Company in Kolkata, he came in contact with Charles Wilkins. Under Wilkins' supervision, Karmakar developed the first Bengali typeface for printing in 1778. In 1800, he was hired by William Carey for the Serampore Mission Press in Hooghly, from where the first Bengali newspaperSamachar Darpan was published in 1818. 

 

William Carey: He was a British Christian missionary. Carey with the help of fellow missionary William ward founded the Serampore Mission Press in 1800. In 1818, this press printed the first Bengali periodical and the Bengali news weekly Samachar Darpan, marking the dawn of Bengali newspapers.

 

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Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury: After completing his BA in 1884, he developed a flair for writing, illustration, and printing. Some of his noted Bengali writings include Goopy Gyne Baagha Byne, Tuntuni'r Boi, Chheleder Ramayan, and Chheleder Mahabharat. In 1913, he founded U Ray and Sons, the finest printing press in South Asia. He first introduced modern block-making, including half-tone and clour block making, not only in India but also in South Asia.

 

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Barindranath Ghosh: He was the younger brother of noted freedom revolutionary Aurobindo Ghosh. In 1906, Ghosh along with Abhinash Bhattacharya and Bhupendranath Dutt was instrumental in starting Jugantar, a Bengali Weekly that justified revolutionary violence against the British Raj. The newspaper was priced at one paisa. In 1933, about 12 years after his release from life imprisonment, he started an English weekly, The Dawn of India.He was also associated with The Statesman and became the editor of Dainik Basumati in 1950.

 

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Sarat Chandra Pandit: Popularly known as Dada Thakur was a celebrated composer of humorous rhymes, writer, and publisher. He published Jungipore Sangbad by donning the hat of author, press-compositor, proofreader, and printer all by himself. The newspaper used to be printed using a wooden hand-press from his bedroom. He also published Bidushak, a pamphlet of satire, humour and social change for sensitising people against corruption. 

 

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Suresh Chandra Majumdar: He is the founder and proprietor of Anandabazar Patrika and the now extinct English Daily Hindustan Standard. Ananda Bazar was first published in 1876 by Tusharkanti Ghose and his father Sisir Kumar Ghose, but the newspaper died soon. Majumdar re-launched the newspaper in 1922 with Prafulla Kumar Sarkar as editor. It was at Majumdar's behest that linotype was introduced in Bengali printing industry. Majumdar was a visionary he started English daily Hindustan Standard in 1937 to take on the British owned The statesman.