Who was Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy? Everything You Need to Know

Quick Facts

Died At Age: 71

Family:

Spouse/Ex-: Begum Niaz Fatima, Vera Alexandrovna Tiscenko Calder

father: Zahid Suhrawardy

mother: Khujastha Akhtar Banu

siblings: Hasan Shaheed Suhrawardy

children: Begum Akhtar Sulaiman

Born Country: India

Prime Ministers Political Leaders

Died on: December 5, 1963

place of death: Beirut, Lebanon

Cause of Death: Cardiac Arrest

Founder/Co-Founder: Bangladesh Awami League

More Facts

education: Delegacy for Non-Collegiate Students, University of Calcutta, St. Xavier's College - Kolkata, St Catherine's College - Oxford, University of Oxford, Aliah University

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Childhood & Early Life

Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy was born on September 8, 1892, in Midnapore, India. His father, Justice Sir Zahid, was a judge at the Calcutta High Court and his mother, Khujastha Akhtar Banu, was the first Indian woman to pass the ‘Senior Cambridge’ exam.

He belonged to a very illustrious Bengali Muslim family, who were known for their high-class background, wealth and education. He had an older brother, Hasan, who was a linguist.

Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy completed his basic education at Calcutta Madrassa and then acquired a BSc. degree from St. Xavier’s College in Calcutta (present day Kolkata).

In 1913, he completed his MA in Arabic Language and went to ‘Oxford University’ on a scholarship.

In 1920, he passed out of St. Catherine’s College at Oxford University with MA in Political Science and BCL degrees.

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Career

From 1922 to 1923, he trained as Barrister-at-law at Gray’s Inn, England. Thereafter, he returned to India and began practicing law at the Calcutta High Court. During this time, he also became active in politics by getting elected as a member of the Bengal Legislative Assembly on Muslim League’s ticket.

In 1924, he emerged as a prominent leader of Khilafat Movement. In April that year, he became the Deputy Mayor of Calcutta after joining the Swaraj Party, with whom he soon parted ways.

Throughout the 1930s, he strongly promoted Muslim communal interests, supported the creation of Pakistan and gathered support for the ‘Pakistan Movement’.

In 1936, he was appointed as the secretary-general of the Bengal chapter of the Muslim League.

In 1937, he is said to have founded the United Muslim Party in Calcutta and joined politician, Mohammed Ali Jinnah. He formed a coalition with Fazlul Huq’s party to win the Bengal elections that year and was appointed Provincial Minister of Labor and Commerce.

In 1943, he was appointed as the Provincial Minister of Civil Supplies, and it was during his tenure that the tragic famine of Bengal took place which took millions of lives.

In April 1946, he was elected the ‘Premier of Bengal’. On August 16, the infamous riots of Calcutta, ‘the Great Calcutta Killings’, took place that saw the killings of several Hindus. He was criticized for inciting the riots on account of his ‘Direct Action Day’ speech supported by Jinnah.

In 1947, on the eve of India’s partition, he floated the idea of a united Bengal not associated with Pakistan or India, an alternative to the partition of Bengal. Not receiving much support, the idea was shelved, effectively ending his position as ‘Premier of Bengal’ on August 14 that year.

In March 1949, he left for Pakistan and co-founded ‘Awami League’ after being ousted from the Muslim League in Bengal.

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In 1953, he was appointed Minister of Law and Justice in Pakistani Prime Minister Mohammad Ali Bogra’s administration, where he was responsible for drafting the ‘Constitution of Pakistan’ and unification of East and West Pakistan.

On September 12, 1956, he was appointed the Prime Minister of Pakistan in Karachi, Pakistan.

On October, 17, 1957, he had to resign from his post due to the political turmoil in Pakistan at that time. In 1960, he retired from politics.

Family & Personal Life

In 1920, Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy married Begum Niaz Fatima, an illustrious politician’s daughter. In 1922, his wife passed away after giving birth to his children, son, Ahmed (who died while studying in London), and daughter, Jahan.

In 1940, he married Russian theatre performer, Vera Alexandrovna Tiscenko, who he met in Russia through his brother.

He had a son with Vera, Rashid, who died in 2019.

In 1951, he divorced Vera after a bitter fight over the distribution of his wealth.

On December 5, 1963, he died of a cardiac arrest in Beirut, Lebanon.

Legacy

A British era race course, Ramna Race Course, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, was renamed after him as ‘Suhrawardy Udyan’.

A major road in Islamabad, Pakistan, ‘Khayaban-e-Suhrawardy’, is named after him.

Several institutions in Bangladesh have been named after him, like 'Government Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy College’ in Magura, and 'Government Shaheed Suhrawardy College’ and ‘Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital’ in Dhaka.

In 1991, his niece, Shaista Suhrawardy Ikramullah, penned his biography ‘Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy: A Biography’.

In 2018, he was mentioned in detail, though in a negative light, in American author, Deborah Baker’s book ‘The Last Englishmen’.

Trivia

His family is said to hail from the Iraqi city of Suhraward, from where he gets his last name.

In 1998, his son, Rashid, who went by the name ‘Robert Ashby’, depicted Indian politician Jawaharlal Nehru in the film ‘Jinnah’.

Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy Biography