Page:The Poetical Works of Ram Sharma.djvu/10

MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR. Babu Nobokissen Ghose, better known to the literary world as Ram Sharma, was born in Calcutta on the 29th August, 1837, at the residence' of Atmaram Dutt of the Hatkhola Dutts, his mother's maternal grand-father. Till his death he was the eldest male representative of the Pathuriaghata Ghoses. The history of the family is well-known. Lord Minto, from his place as Chancellor of the Calcutta University, on the occasion of its Jubilee celebration in 1908, acknowledged its worth and culture. Ram Sharma was fourth in descent from Dewan Ram Prosad, elder brother of the more illustrious Dewan Ram Lochan who played a distinguished part in the Decennial Settlement of Bengal. His grand-father Ram Chandra was a man of high probity and sterling worth. A banker of repute, with unstinted hospitality, his home was a frequent resort of distinguished Indians and Europeans. His son, Kailash Chandra, the poet's father, received a liberal education at Sherborn School. Ram Sharma's poetical turn does not seem to have been inherited from his parents; but if poetry can lay claim to any "motion of kinship's blood" with painting and music, our poet inherited a liberal strain from his father, who was both an excellent artist and a skilful musician. Once a successful merchant, Kailash, 1