Dr. Hari Singh Gour: A polymath who built institutions and transformed lives

Ata time when higher education was confined to major cities such as Calcutta, Bombay, Madras, and Allahabad, Dr. Gour envisioned a university that would serve the rural, tribal, and disadvantaged regions of Central India.

- PROF. RAGHAVENDRA P. TIWARI

He firmly believed that education should not be a privilege reserved for the elite but a right accessible to all, especially first-generation learners from weaker sections of society.

Dr. Gour founded the University of Sagar (now known as Dr. Harisingh Gour Vishwavidyalaya) not in a major city or a region of privilege, but in a remote and underserved part of Central India.

By donating his entire life's earnings to build a world-class university, he affirmed that knowledge must belong to everyone. Humanity should remember him as a pioneer who believed that education must reach the socially, geographically, and economically marginalised sections of society. Through philanthropy as an educational strategy, Dr. Gour demonstrated his belief in an individual's responsibility towards the public good.

DR GOUR ENRICHED THE INTELLECTUAL LIFE OF BHARAT

Dr. Gour was a polymath whose expertise spanned multiple fields, including law and jurisprudence, education, social reform, politics and legislation, literature, and philosophy. He was also a prominent freedom fighter, author, and poet. His monumental legal commentaries, poetry, novels, and philosophical writings reflect a rare breadth and depth of intellect. He moved effortlessly between law, literature, and social criticism, and his scholarship continues to shape Indian legal studies even today. He should be remembered as someone who used his intellectual excellence not for personal gain but for the public good.

Dr. Gour’s intellectual and scholarly acumen is preserved in his writings, including Seven Lives (his autobiography), The Hindu Code (a work of legal philosophy), The Transfer of Property in British India (an analytical commentary on the Transfer of Property Act), The Penal Law of India, The Future Constitution of India, and many more.

A BUILDER OF INSTITUTIONS