Hironmoyee Bose
Hironmoyee Bose (September 5, 1920 - May 20, 1978) is an Indian athlete best known for high jumps hurdles and sprints. In 1936 she became India's top ranking athlete.
History[edit]
Bose was born in rural Bengal near Kolkata. She emerged from elementary school to nationwide prominence known as the best Indian sportsgirl in three athletic events two years in a row, 1936 and 1937. She was admitted to Sarada Mandir Girls’ School at Sarisha at the age of seven (in 1927). That year women’s education was beginning to spread in rural Bengal as teachers were going from door to door in the hope of collecting prospective students for their primary schools.
In 1933, the school authorities of Sarada Mandir announced that the seven best students in terms of discipline, physical fitness, sports, regular attendance and leadership qualities would be rewarded with a flight around Calcutta, a very rare treat indeed at the time.
Hironmoyee came 4th and flew over this city. In 1934 Hironmoyee secured a place in the Medium School scholarship examination. She was also a participant in various sporting activities of the year.
1935 was the first year when the girls from this distant village participated in the Girls’ Interschool Sports held in Kolkata. They were all rookies at that stage, short of training and preparation and could come back with some minor trophies for the school.
DESH patrika (journal) was publishing regularly the relevant exercises for girls’ sporting activities, authored by Mr Brajaranjan. The school authority arranged Hironmoyee and the other girls to practice every exercise each morning. They also organized the appropriate diet for them. Everytime Hironmoyee participated in a sporting contest in Calcutta, she came out the winner. In other events organized by the Bengal Olympics Association Bose from Sarada Mandir was highlighted. She became a household name, papers from even different states printed her pictures and published accounts of her exploits in events called, at that time for running high jump, 80 (or 83) meter low hurdles and 100 meter sprint. Bose retained the status in 1937.
The same year Hironmoyee made the round trip of 52 miles from Sarisha to Calcutta escorted by her uncle. This was the very first such cycling sojourn by girls.
Inspired by the success of the Sarada Mandir girls in the national events, Panchu Saha, a local businessman purchased a huge plot of land for this school, allowing the girls to practice their sporting activities. This would be the very first such arrangement for the rural girls of the whole of Bengal. Along with training by Radhakanta Babu, two more qualified coaches were appointed. These efforts resulted in enormous success of the Sarada Mandir girls in the 1937 national events. The school became the champion in the Girls’ Interschool Sports, the first such achievement for a school of vernacular medium. Hironmoyee could not compete in the 1936 Berlin Olympics as India still did not include women in their olympic delegation.
Family[edit]
Hironmoyee was married on January 2, 1938 to Subodh Kumar Ghosh, an electrical engineer working for the Tata Steel (called TISCO at the time). They lived in Jamshedpur. They had one son and one granddaughter. Hironmoyee passed away on May 20, 1978, aged 58.
Source[edit]
(1) A school publication in Bengali by Hironmoyee’s classmates, MAYA, PROMILA, MOLINA, SHANTI, INDU, ANNAPURNA. 1937. (2) Various issues of the Bengali language daily, Ananda Bazar Patrika during the winter months of 1935, 1936, 1937. (3) Various issues of the English language daily, The Statesman during the winter months of 1935, 1936, 1937.
See also[edit]
- Tanya Ling (Bose's granddaugther)
- Bip Ling (Bose's great-granddaughter)
- Evangeline Ling (Bose's great-granddaughter)
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