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Zakir Husain
ज़ाकिर हुसैन
The educationist who became the third President of Bhārat
Years
1897 – 1969
Known as
Dr. Zakir Husain — teacher, statesman
Birthplace
Hyderabad, Telangana
Field
Social Reformers
“Education is the nation's greatest gift — and the teacher its greatest servant.”
— Zakir Husain
The Story
Born in Hyderabad in 1897, Zakir Husain studied at Aligarh and then in Germany, where he earned a doctorate in economics. He returned to Bhārat and joined the national movement — he was imprisoned for his support of Gandhi's Non-Cooperation — and, with the great leaders of the age, he helped found and then lead the Jamia Millia Islamia, the university built on national lines at Delhi.
His life was devoted to education: as Vice-Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University he modernised it, and his work in education reached the whole nation. He was among the founders of the Indian National Congress's educational philosophy, and his books and essays on education are still studied.
After independence he served as Governor of Bihar and as Vice-President of Bhārat — and in 1967 he was elected President, the third President and the first Muslim to hold the office. He died in office in 1969, and his funeral, in Delhi, was attended by the whole nation. The Jamia university he built remains one of Bhārat's great institutions of learning.
Core Ideas
The Jamia
He built the Jamia Millia Islamia university.
The Third President
The first Muslim President of Bhārat, elected 1967.
The Prisoner
Imprisoned in the Non-Cooperation movement.
The Vice-Chancellor
He modernised Aligarh Muslim University.
The Teacher's Teacher
His philosophy of education guides the nation.
Why it matters today
Zakir Husain is honoured in the Jamia university he built and in the national memory as the President who was a teacher first. He is the proof that the classroom is the highest school of the republic — and that a great teacher can become a great president.