After Raja Rammohan Roy, the person who made immense contributions to the Hindu society was Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar. He was born on 26 September 1820 in a village called Veerasinghu in Bengal. His real name was Ishwar Chandra. After receiving the title of Vidyasagar in Hindu scriptures, he is known as Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar along with Vidyasagar. He achieved fame as a scholar and teacher in Dharma, Vedanta, and Astrology. He worked as a college principal and made immense efforts for the spread of education. During his tenure as an education officer, he established many schools and colleges. Due to his efforts in the spread of education, many women in Bengal became educated. He wrote works like ‘Bengal Charitra’ and ‘Sitavanavasam’. He wrote many Sanskrit books in an easy-to-read format.
He played an active role in eradicating the evils of child marriage, polygamy, and dowry and contributed significantly to the empowerment of women. He campaigned for the legalization of widow marriages through his book ‘Vitanthu Vivekam’. It was because of his work on widow marriages that the Dalhousie Widow Remarriage Act was implemented in 1856. Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar died in 1891.
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