Author: Derozio, Henry Louis Vivian
Biography:
DEROZIO, Henry Louis Vivian (1809-31: Edwards)
Considered to be the first Indian poet who wrote in English, he was of mixed Portuguese, Indian, and English descent. Derozio was born in Calcutta (Kolkata) on 18 Apr. 1809 to Francis Derozio and his first wife Sophia Johnson. He was raised as a Christian and until the age of fourteen he attended a school run by a Scot, David Drummond. He then worked in an office before moving to his uncle’s indigo factory at Bhagalpur. There Derozio began writing verse and submitted poems to India Gazette. The editor, John Grant, encouraged him and it was with his help that Derozio’s 1827 Poems was issued in Calcutta; it is dedicated to Grant. The immediate success of the publication changed Derozio’s life: he became assistant editor of India Gazette, editor of Calcutta Literary Gazette, and in 1828 he was appointed master of English literature and history at the Hindu College. A gifted teacher who inspired his pupils to question orthodox religious views, Derozio came to be seen as a threat to the establishment and he was removed from his post in Apr. 1831. Just months later, on 23 Dec. 1831, Derozio died in Calcutta of cholera after a short illness during which he was attended not only by his mother and sister but also by Grant and pupils from the Hindu College. He was buried in the South Park Street cemetery. (Thomas Edward, Henry Derozio [1898]; Daniel E. White, From Little London to Little Bengal [2013]; Rosinka Chauduri, ed., A History of Indian Poetry in English [2016]) SR
Other Names:
- H. L. V. Derozio