Biography of Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed

(May 13, 1905 - February 11, 1977)

Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed was the fifth President of the Indian Republic. He was born on May 13, 1905 at Hauz Qazi area of Delhi. He matriculated from the Delhi Government High School and proceeded to England for higher education in 1913 from Cambridge University.

In 1925, he met Jawaharlal Nehru whose progressive ideas impressed him deeply. He became a primary member of Congress and actively participated in the freedom movement. He took part in individual Satyagraha on December 14, 1940, for which he was imprisoned for a year. In 1942, he was arrested in the Quit India Movement and sentenced to three-and-a-half years imprisonment.

He was elected to the Assam Assembly and became the Minister of Finance, Revenue and Labour in 1938. He became the Union Minister in 1966. Later, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed was elected the President of the Indian Republic on August 20, 1974. Ali was a close associate of Mrs. Indira Gandhi. He died in office on February 11, 1977.