Hirendranath Datta

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Hirendranath Datta was an Indian attorney of Calcutta who was prominent in the Theosophical Society based in Adyar, Chennai, India. In 1934, newly elected President George S. Arundale nominated him for the office of Vice-President of the Society:

Mr. Datta is at present an additional member of the General Council, a post that he has held for twenty-five years. He joined the Society in 1894 and was present at the first convention of the Indian Section, in 1896, visiting Adyar for the first time in 1903, when he attended the International Convention there.

Mr. Datta has taken the keenest interest in the Society throughout the period of his membership, and has for many years been the unofficial legal adviser both to the Society and to the Indian Section. He was one of Dr. Besant's intimate and respected friends and counselors, being closely associated with her in her various activities in connection with the theosophical movement. He was, for example, one of the foundation members of the Central Hindu College, Benares, and was on its Board of Trustees.

Mr. Datta is one of the Vice-Presidents fo the National Council of Education, Bengal, a trustee of Dr. Rabindranath Tagores's Visva-Bharati, and is on te board of one of the most important technical colleges in Bengal. He is the author of several books dealing with philosophy, Hinduism, etc.

Dr. Arundale writes of him: "I consider that the appointment of Mr. Datta as Vice-President will greatly strengthen the Society's Executive both from the standpoint of its business, and from the standpoint of wisely guiding the Society in connection with its public duties."[1]

Writings

English language

  • Hirendranath Datta Memorial Lectures. Hirendranath Datta Foundation, Jadavpur University, 1970.
  • Philosophy of the Gods: Deva Tattwa. Calcutta: Theosophical Publishing Society, 1906.
  • The Future of the Theosophical Society: Being the Five Convention Lectures Delivered in Benares at the Fifty-fifth Anniversary of the Theosophical Society, December, 1930. Adyar, India: Theosophical Publishing House, 1931. Number 152 in Adyar Pamphlets series.Other lectures were Annie Besant, Curuppumullagē Jinarājadāsa, B. Sanjiva Rao, and Ernest Wood.

Bengali language

Notes

  1. "Vice-President Nominated," The American Theosophist 22.8 (August, 1934), 188.