Zakir Husain

Zakir Husain was born on 8 February 1897 in Hyderabad, the son of Fida Husain. He was married to Shahjehan Begum. According to the Vice-President’s Secretariat he held an M.A. and a Ph.D. from Berlin, and Jamia Millia Islamia records that his doctorate was in economics from the University of Berlin. He later received honorary D.Litt. degrees from the universities of Delhi, Aligarh, Allahabad, Calcutta and Cairo.

In 1925 Husain, then studying in Germany, decided with Abid Husain and Mohammad Mujeeb to serve Jamia Millia Islamia, an institution founded at Aligarh in 1920 that had moved to Delhi in 1925. The three returned to India in early 1926, and Husain became Vice-Chancellor of Jamia in 1926, a post he held until 1948. During financial crises he led a group of teachers who pledged to serve Jamia for twenty years on modest salaries. He was president of the Hindustani Talimi Sangh at Sevagram from 1938 to 1950 and chaired the Basic National Education Committee in 1937.

Husain was Vice-Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University from 1948 to 1956. He chaired the Central Board of Secondary Education in 1957 and international student and university service bodies in the 1950s. He was a member of the Rajya Sabha from 3 April 1952 to 6 July 1957, and was Governor of Bihar from 1957 to 1962.

Husain was Vice-President of India and ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha from 13 May 1962 to 12 May 1967. He became Chancellor of Jamia in 1963.

Husain became President of India on 13 May 1967 and was the first Muslim to hold the office. He received the Padma Vibhushan in 1954 and the Bharat Ratna in 1963. His writings included works on economics and education in English, Urdu and Hindi. He died on 3 May 1969, the first President to die in office.