Raja Ram Mohan Roy
Raja Ram Mohan Roy was the founder of the Brahmo Sabha movement in 1828, which engendered the Brahmo Samaj, an influential social-religious reform movement. His influence was apparent in the fields of politics, public administration and education as well as religion. He was known for his efforts to abolish the practice of sati, the Hindu funeral practice in which the widow was compelled to sacrifice herself in her husband’s funeral pyre in some parts of Bengal. Raja Ram Mohan Roy was known as the Father of the Indian Renaissance and In 2004, Ram Mohan Roy was ranked number 10 in BBC's poll of the Greatest Bengali of all time.