Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (1888 – 1958) was a freedom fighter, Islamic theologian, prolific writer and a senior leader of the Indian National Congress.
In 1992, the Indian government posthumously honored him with the prestigious Bharat Ratna award.
Azad was born in Mecca in 1888. He was a brilliant child and was home-schooled by his father, a renowned Islamic scholar. By the age of eleven, he had already started publishing a poetical journal and was editing a weekly newspaper.
Azad was a strong advocate of Hindu-Muslim unity and Indian nationalism. He rose to prominence through his journalistic work, which was critical of the British Raj. He also became a key leader of the Khilafat Movement, which was launched in 1919 to protest the British treatment of the Ottoman Empire.
After the failure of the Khilafat Movement, Azad became even closer to the Indian National Congress. He became a staunch supporter of Mahatma Gandhi's non-violent civil disobedience movement and was deeply committed to Gandhi's ideals, including Swadeshi (indigenous) products and Swaraj (self-rule) for India.
In 1923, at the age of 35, he became the youngest person to serve as the President of the Indian National Congress.
After India gained independence in 1947, Azad was appointed the first Minister of Education. Under his leadership, the Ministry of Education established the first Indian Institute of Technology in 1951 and the University Grants Commission in 1953. He is celebrated as one of the founders and greatest patrons of the Jamia Millia Islamia. His contribution to establishing the education foundation in India is recognized by celebrating his birthday (11th November) as National Education Day across India.
Azad spent the final years of his life focusing on writing his book India Wins Freedom, an exhaustive account of India's freedom struggle and its leaders, which was published in 1959.
Mahatma Gandhi once said that Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was "a person of the calibre of Plato, Aristotle and Pythagoras."