Chennai, India chakravif@gmail.com +919962716812

Sarangadhar Das

(1886 – 1957) – (Odisha)

Sarangadhar Das (Aged 71) was born on 17 October 1886 in Dhenkanal district, Odisha, India. His father’s name was Harekrishna Sumanta Patnaik. He was an Indian nationalist revolutionary and Orissa politician who studied at Ravenshaw College in Cuttack. In 1907, he went to Japan to study at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, with financial support from the King of Dhenkanal.

In 1909, he traveled to the United States to study sugar technology at the University of California, Berkeley. Afterward, he worked as the chief chemist at a sugar factory in Honolulu, Hawaii. In 1911, while in Berkeley, he published an informational document called “Information for Indian Students Intending to come to the Pacific Coast of the United States,” which contained practical advice and information about student life for Indians in the United States.

After returning to India, Sarangadhar tried to establish a sugar factory in Orissa but failed. He then worked as an activist against the feudal chiefs who held power at the time. From 1937 to 1946, he was the General Secretary of the Orissa States People’s Conference. He passed away on 19 September 1957 in Cuttack, Odisha, India.