Biography of ‘Zakir Hussain’
Dr. Zakir Hussain (February 1897-3 May 1969) was the 3rd President of India, from 13 May 1967 until his death on 3 May 1969. An educationist and intellectual, Hussain was the country’s first Muslim president. He previously served as Governor of Bihar from 1957 to 1962 and as Vice-President of India from 1962 to 1967.
Zakir Hussain was born in Hyderabad, India. His family migrated from Hyderabad to Kaimganj, where Hussain grew up. Hussain’s father, Fida Hussain Khan, died when he was ten years old; his mother died in 1911 when he was fourteen. He attended Islamia High School, Etawah, and was then educated at the Anglo-Muhammadan Oriental College, now Aligarh Muslim University, where he was a prominent student leader. He received his doctorate in economics from the University of Berlin in 1926.
Zakir Hussain was born the third of seven children, all boys, to Fida Hussain Khan, a lawyer, and Naznin Begum. In 1915, at the age of 18, he married Shah Jahan Begum. Zakir Hussain’s relatives have also been active in politics and education. His grandson Salman Khurshid, a Congress politician, is the current Foreign Minister of India.
Hussain, then only 23, was among the small group of students and teachers who founded a National Muslim University, first founded in Aligarh on Friday 29 October 1920 then shifted to Karol Bagh, New Delhi in 1925, then after shifted again on 1 March 1935 in Jamia Nagar, New Delhi and named it Jamia Millia Islamia (a Central University). He subsequently went to Germany to obtain a Ph.D. from the Frederick William University of Berlin in Economics. While in Germany, Hussain was instrumental in bringing out the anthology of arguably the greatest Urdu poet Mirza Assadullah Khan “Ghalib” (1797-1868).
After serving as the Governor of Bihar from 1957 to 1962, and as the second Vice-President of India from 1962 to 1967, Hussain was elected President of India on 13 May 1967. In his inaugural speech he said that the whole of India was his home and all its people were his family. During his last days, the issue of nationalization of banks was being hotly debated.
The bill, in the end, received presidential consent from Sh. M. Hidayatullah (acting president) on 9 Aug 1969.
Hussain died on 3 May 1969, the first Indian President to die in office. He is buried on the campus of the Jamia Millia Islamia (or Central University) in New Delhi.
