Hemendra Mohan Bose

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Hemendra Mohan Bose (Bengali: হেমেন্দ্র মোহন বসু) (1864 - 1916) was an Indian entrepreneur and the first Indian to manufacture gramophones[1]. Many of his businesses spurred from amateur pursuits[2]

Contents

[edit] Early life

Bose was born in 1864 in the Jaysiddhi village of Mymensingh District. His studies were conducted at Medical College Kolkata, where he trained to be a medical professional. Bose began experimenting with perfume after college, and began moving away from the medical field and into business[3].

[edit] Businesses

In 1894, Bose began a perfume shop in Kolkatta where he distilled the perfumes at 62 Bow Bazar Street in Kolkatta. The business was titled H-Bose Perfumes. He was quite successful from the outset and purchased merchandising rights for toiletries and a factory as well, which were consolidated at a new space on 6 Shib Narayan Das Lane, Calcutta[3]. By 1900, he had created a printing press and publishing house titled Kuntaline Press at 5 Shib Narayan Das Lane in Kolkatta which incidentally was next door to his perfume business. Later, he established India's first bicycle factory in 1903, one of the first among his Swadeshi ventures.[1]

[edit] Sound recording

In 1900, Bose began to privately make sound recordings[4] after he acquired an Edison phonograph. He began recording his friends in a leisurely fashion. Some of the first people recorded by Bose included J. C. Bose, P. C. Roy, and Rabindranath Tagore.[3] His company became known as "H. Bose recordings" which later became "H. Bose Swadeshi Records". By 1907, the demand for Bose's recordings grew so great that he began producing his own cylinders for recording. H. Bose was a well known supporter of the Swadeshi movement and many of his records covered this subject[1].

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c Bose, Hemendra Mohan - Banglapedia
  2. ^ Centenarian of the musical kind The Hindu - August 7, 2002
  3. ^ a b c Kinnear 42
  4. ^ Vernon 53

[edit] References

  • Kinnear, Michael S. Gramophone Company's First Indian Recordings. Popular Prakashan, 1994.
  • Vernon, Paul. Ethnic and Vernacular Music, 1898-1960: A Resource and Guide to Recordings. Greenwood Press, 1995.