Kiron Chandra Roy 1929
Kiron Chandra Roy '29 was born in Dacca, India (now Dhaka, Bangladesh) on December 23, 1903. Influenced by his father Lalit Roy’s revolutionary anti-colonial politics, Kiron Chandra Roy enrolled at MIT rather than at an English university. While at the Institute, Roy majored in Electrical Engineering and was a part of the Electrical Engineering Society as well as MIT’s branch of the Hindustan Club, a country-wide association of politically-active South Asian students who opposed British colonial rule.
Kiron Chandra Roy Electrical Engineering Class 1929
Kiron Chandra Roy, Senior Portfolio, 1929
Roy met Anna, a Polish American, during his time at MIT. They married, and she returned to India with him after his graduation.
Roy founded the Bengal Lamp and Electrical Works Company in 1932 with his brothers. This entirely Bengali-owned Swadeshi company manufactured electric bulbs in its factory in Jadavpur and came to dominate the market, bringing light to thousands of middle-class homes in Bengal.
Kiron Roy and Anna in Boston, early 1930s Courtesy of Sugata Bose
Kiron Roy and Anna in Calcutta, 1942 Courtesy of Sugata Bose
We thank Sugata Bose for sharing these photographs and family history with us.