Mira Datta Gupta

Mira Dattagupta (1907-1983) was a well-known freedom fighter, social worker, educationist, politician and activist on women's issues in Kolkata, India. She was the founder of many prominent women's organisations and educational institutions in West Bengal, India. In a political role, she was also a member of the Indian Congress Party between 1939 and 1959. She was an elected member of the state legislative assembly in West Bengal as well.

The last decades of the 19th Century and the start of the 20th Century saw the dawn of awakening of Indian women across India. Born in this period Mira like some of her contemporaries contributed towards the education and advancement of women in her region. She did her masters in mathematics and secured a first class with second rank from the Calcutta University. She was then associated with revolutionary groups during India's Independence movement such as Anushilan, Jugantar and Bengal Volunteers. As the principal of of the women's section of Kolkata's Surendranath College, Mira Datta Gupta was very popular for her strong sense of discipline and academic standards. She was a member of the West Bengal state legislative Assembly for two terms before and after Indian Independence but declined an offer for the position of deputy minister in the Cabinet of 1952. She had a devoted following in the Ballygunge Constituency, all along the southeastern environs of the city, and was known for her social commitment. She was among the founder members of the All India Women's Conference and All Bengal Women's Union.During the devastating Bengal Famine of 1943, Mira Datta Gupta along with co-Congress workers played a leading role in organising relief and rehabilitation for victims. She had served as an honorary justice of peace in the juvenile court in Kolkata and was a member of the Board of Film Censors in West Bengal. In the 1950s she was a member of an Indian goodwill mission to China and later visited Berlin, Copenhagen and Moscow to attend developmental, educational and women's conferences.