Naoroji, Dadabhai, 1825-1917

Dadabhai Naoroji (b. 4 September 1825, Mumbai, British India–d. 30 June 1917, Mumbai, British India) was born in Bombay (now Mumbai) in a Gujarati-speaking Parsi family, and educated at the Elphinstone Institute School. In 1855 he was appointed Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy at the Elphinstone College in Bombay, the first Indian to hold such an academic position. That year he also travelled to London to become a partner in Cama & Co, but resigned on ethical grounds three years later. In 1859, Naoroji established his own cotton trading company, Dadabhai Naoroji & Co and also became professor of Gujarati at University College London. He was founder of tThe Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe alongside Muncherjee Hormusji Cama (1861) and helped to establish the East India Association, one of the predecessor organisations of the Indian National Congress, 1867.

In 1874, Naoroji became Prime Minister of Baroda and was a member of the Legislative Council of Mumbai (1885–88). Naoroji was elected President of the Indian National Congress in 1886. In 1892 he was elected to the British House of Commons and served until 1895, first British Indian MP.