Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar

Another Bengali reformer who actively raised the issues related to women was Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar. He was an active proponent of education of girl child as he believed that lack of education was the real cause underlying all their problems.

With the help of an Englishman named Bethun, he set up many schools devoted especially to girl child. He forcefully attacked child marriage and polygamy. He was a strong advocate of widow remarriage.

It was due to his active mobilization of support that the Widows’ Remarriage Act was passed in 1856 legalizing all widow remarriages. He arranged many such remarriages. He set a personal example when his son Narayan also married a widow.