Subhash Chandra Bose (1897 - 1945)

Subhash Chandra Bose was born on January 23, 1897, in Cuttack, Odisha. He began his schooling at the age of five; initially enrolled in a school run by Europeans, he later switched to a Bengali-medium school. He passed his matriculation examination, securing the second rank. He read books authored by renowned personalities such as Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Swami Vivekananda. He underwent military training after joining a unit of the Territorial Army—a force active within his college. He traveled to Cambridge University for higher studies and passed the Indian Civil Service examination in 1920. He resigned from the service and met Gandhiji, who advised him to approach C.R. Das. C.R. Das became Subhash Chandra Bose's political mentor.

A proponent of leftist ideology, he supported the radical policies of the Congress party, a stance that drew significant opposition from within the organization. He assumed the role of President of the Bengal Congress Committee in 1927. In 1930, he was imprisoned for leading an unauthorized Independence Day procession. He was jailed again in 1931 in connection with the Civil Disobedience Movement but was released due to illness. Subsequently, he traveled to Vienna for medical treatment. Later, he conducted campaigns to draw the attention of the European public to the Indian freedom struggle. He married Emilie Schenkl, an Austrian woman he had met in Europe in 1937.

He was elected president of the Haripura Congress session in 1938 and became Congress president again in 1939, defeating Pattabhi Sitaramayya, Gandhi's candidate. Due to internal dissension within the party, he resigned from the presidency and founded an organization called the 'Forward Bloc'. He was arrested for revolutionary activities during the Indian freedom struggle. In 1941, he escaped from prison and reached Germany. On January 26, 1943, he celebrated Indian Republic Day in Berlin. People called him 'Netaji'. He traveled from Berlin to Japan to assume leadership of the INA. There, he formed a government-in-exile. The provisional government known as 'Azad Hind' was formed in Singapore on October 21, 1943. Although the INA gained renown after crossing the Indian border in 1944, they were eventually forced to retreat. He is believed to have died in a plane crash in Japan in 1945; the circumstances of his passing have never been conclusively proven.