Dadabhai Naoroji was born on September 4, 1825. He is one of the earliest leaders to have led the foundation of the Indian freedom struggle and also happens to be one of the founding members of the Indian National Congress. He was elected thrice as the president of the Congress in 1886, 1893, and 1906. He died on June 30, 1917. 

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Dadabhai Naoroji, a prominent leader of India’s freedom movement and a founding member of  the Indian National Congress, was called the “Grand Old Man of India.” Also, ‘Unofficial Ambassador of India. On his 105th death anniversary, here are some lesser-known facts about him. 

  1. Dadabhai Naoroji was born in 1825 in Navsari, a Gujarati-speaking Parsi family, and got his education from Elphinstone Institute College
  2. He got married at the age of 11 to Gulbai.
  3. At the age of 28, he was appointed as a professor in a British-administered school, Elphinstone Faculty in Bombay, instructing arithmetic and physics. 
  4. He went to London in 1855, to accompany Cama & Co and opened its department in Liverpool. It became a primary Indian firm established in Britain. 
  5.  He established a cotton trading company, Dadabhai Naoroji Company in 1859. 
  6. He was a Professor of Gujarati at the University of London. 
  7. He established the London Indian Society in 1865, which aimed to discuss Indian political, social and literary subjects.
  8. He established the East Indian Association as the predecessor organisation of the Indian National Congress in 1867. The organisation aimed to put forth the Indian perspective before the British public. 
  9. The East Indian Association won the support of the Englishmen and was able to take its stand in the British Parliament.
  10. He was elected as the primary British Indian in Liberal Occasion Member of Parliament in 1892 and 1895. 
  11. He established the Indian National Congress in 1885. He was elected thrice as the president of the Congress in 1886, 1893, and 1906. 
  12. He died on June 30, 1917, in Versova, Bombay.