Home > Society > Personalities in India > Ramnath Goenka
Ramnath Goenka
Ramnath Goenka was a newspaper baron and a freedom fighter who was born in the Darbhanga district of Bihar.

Share this Article:

Ramnath Goenka , Indian Business ManRamnath Goenka, the renowned newspaper baron of India, launched The Indian Express and formed the Indian Express Group along with several other English as well as regional language publications. The services and life of this noble man, is a landmark in the history of famous personalities in India and all over the world.

Ramnath Goenka was born in the 3rd of April, 1904 in the district of Darbhanga in Bihar state. Goenka finished his primary level education at Varanasi. When he was fifteen years old, Goenka came to the city of Chennai to get educated in the ropes of the business by getting into the trade of jute and yarn. He got married to Moongibai. In the year 1932, Ramnath Goenka took charge of the unprofitable Chennai (Madras) edition of `The Free Press Journal` and himself drove the newspaper delivery van to supply the papers. He established the Indian Express in the year 1936, and in the year 1941, Goenka was elected the President of the National Newspaper Editors` Conference. Subsequent to this, both Ramnath Goenka and the Indian Express frankly challenged the British Raj.

Daily Tej in the year1948, partnered with Ramnath Goenka to issue the Indian News Chronicle, English daily from New Delhi. After the demise of Lala Deshbandhu Gupta, Goenka changed it as `The Indian Express`. After India`s independence, Goenka was nominated to the Constituent Assembly of India. Ramnath Goenka will be remembered forever due to his role at the time of the `Emergency` in India and his campaign against Indira Gandhi. R. Ramakrishnan, who used to work with Goenka, was also acclaimed by Jayaprakash Narayan for arranging meetings to oppose the emergency. The bitter relations between the business tycoon Dhirubhai Ambani and Ramnath Goenka is remembered still today. The critics of Goenka believe that his obsession towards politics was the fire which moved the newspapers from Indian Express Group on a burning trail.

Ramnath Goenka was only six years old when his mother died. His aunt adopted him, who was Basant Lal Goenka`s widow. Basant Lal Goenka died in the year 1901, and left a several estates and a large business to look after. Ramnath Goenka was thus adopted by his aunt who was then the owned of a large estate and business. After completing his graduation from the Kashi Peeth, Goenka joined the huge business of his maternal uncles Babu Sagarmal Dalmia and Babu Prahlad Rai Dalmia, who were the brothers of his adoptive mother, in Kolkata. His uncle later sent Dalmia to Sukhdevdoss Ramprasad`s firm in Kolkata, which is considered to be the largest Indian Firm which deals with piece goods and yarn. As Sukhdevdoss Ramprasad`s agent, Ramnath Goenka came to Chennai in the year 1922. Towards the end of 1925, Goenka ventured into a business partnership with Murliprasad Mohanprasad of Hyderabad. The partnership firm started its business in the form of a piece goods merchant at the Godown Street in Chennai in January 1926. This partnership went through the year 1932 to 1933.

Ramnath Goenka was nominated to the Chennai (Madras) Legislative Council by the then Governer in the year 1926. As chief salesman, Goenka joined the Bombay Co. Ltd. and he held the post till the end of 1936. An acute racing enthusiast as a youngster, Goenka sacrificed his pastime activity in the year 1935-36 and ventured into journalism seriously. During the later half of 1934, Goenka became a debenture, the bearer of the Free Press of India (Madras) Ltd., the-then owners of Indian Express. Afterwards, Goenka bought the company`s all shares at a cost of two lakh and fifty thousand rupees. Ramnath Goenka left for the heavenly abode on the 5th of October, 1991 in the city of Mumbai after suffering from a prolonged illness. BG Verghese, the renowned journalist wrote his biography `Warrior of the Fourth Estate` which was published by Penguin.


Share this Article:

Related Articles

More Articles in Personalities in India


Bollywood Personalities
Bollywood Personalities have contributed immensely to the success of the Hindi film industry in India
Theatre Personalities of Independent India
The different personalities in Indian theatre after independence reshaped the very form of "Indian Natya"
Hindi Theatre Personalities
Hindi theatre personalities are recognized all across the nation for their immense contribution in the field of Indian Theatre.
Sanskrit Theatre Personalities
Sanskrit Theatre Personalities was the main elements of Indian theatre with culture, customs and ethnicity.
Indian Golf Players
Indian Golf Players in the recent years have brought laurels to our country by winning some of the major international golf titles. The most successful Indian golfers in India are Jeev Milkha Singh and Anirban Lahiri.
Indian Badminton Players
Indian badminton players, for their brilliant performances and consistency, are popular across the globe. Several popular Indian badminton players have made India proud in international circuit.
Indian Social Reformers
The Indian Social Reformers are responsible for liberating the nation of several social and religious evils.
Indian Mathematicians
Indian Mathematicians have promulgated the theories of Mathematics into the Indian curriculum and have invented valuable notions, like the concept of Zero as well.
Indian Freedom Fighters
Indian Freedom Fighters, like Mahatma Gandhi, Bhagat Singh and Subash Chandra Bose, etc had struggled against the British to gain independence for the country and its people.
Personalities of West Bengal
Personalities of West Bengal has spread the glory of their homeland worldwide in probably every arena of performance.
Indian Historians
Indian historians have discovered a lot of facets of research, not only in history, but also in art and other subjects of humanities.
Jyotirao Phule
Jyotirao Phule was a social activist, thinker, reformer, philosopher and writer. A man with multiple talents, Phule brought many changes in Indian society.
Indian Spritural Gurus
Indian spiritual gurus have great impact on the social and religious life of Indian people.
Swami Vivekananda
Swami Vivekananda was one of the most influential spiritual leaders of Vedanta and Yoga philosophies, and a huge saintly figure not only in India but to the world. The year 2014 marks the 151st birth anniversary of Vivekananda.
Raja Ram Mohan Roy
Raja Ram Mohan Roy is a great Indian social reformer who is celebrated all over the country. He has done many operations for the liberation of women. He was born in an affluent family in the year 1772.
Periyar E. V. Ramasamy
Periyar E. V. Ramasamy was a social thinker and a person who wore many hats at the same time. He brought about many changes in the society.
Mangal Pandey
Mangal Pandey was India’s first sepoy to rise up against the British. He had played the principal role to swell up the Sepoy Mutiny by his dauntless acts.
Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi, known as the ‘Father of Nation’, propagated the ideology of ‘Ahimsa’ and led the country during the Indian freedom struggle.
Srinivasa Iyengar Ramanujan
Srinivasa Iyengar Ramanujan was an Indian mathematical genius. He added a new dimension to the whole world of mathematics.
Jagadish Chandra Bose
Jagadish Chandra Bose was an Indian physicist and was the first Indian to get a US patent. Though Jagadish Chandra Bose worked in other fields of science, he is best known for his research into the life of plants.
Indian Fashion Designers
Indian fashion designers are going global with their creations with unlimited collections of various tastes.