Allan Octavian Hume

Allan Octavian Hume, usually only A.O. Hume ( born June 6 1829 in Montrose, Angus, Scotland, † July 31, 1912 in London, England) was a Scottish ornithologist, theosophist and politicians. He was one of the founders of the Indian National Congress.

Life and work

Hume was born on June 6, 1829 as one of six children of Joseph Hume and Catherine Elizabeth Burnley in the Scottish Montrose. In 1842 he served as a midshipman on the Royal Navy frigate Vangauard, then the East India Company attended college (now Haileybury College) in Hertford and studied medicine at University College Hospital in London. In 1853 he married Mary Anne Grindall († 1891), from his marriage went forth a daughter.

1849 Hume moved to India and obtained a post in the Indian Civil Service in Etawah. In 1867 he was (now Uttar Pradesh ) has been appointed Commissioner of Customs ( Customs Agent) for the north-western provinces and was from 1870 to 1879 Secretary in the Indian Ministry of Agriculture. Its use for a greater say in the Indian domestic policy areas, led to conflict with Britain and finally in 1879 his transfer back to an insignificant place in the north-western provinces. 1882 was followed by the retirement from the Civil Service.

After Hume had met in 1879 in Allahabad Helena Blavatsky and Henry Steel Olcott, he joined the Theosophical Society in 1880 and in 1881 president of the Theosophical Lodge in Shimla. Financing for the magazine The Theosophist he was instrumental, as Hume was the recipient of several allegedly authored by the masters of the wisdom of so-called master's certificates. After disagreements with Blavatsky, he joined the Theosophical Society from 1883 from, but continued to maintain contact with the organization and a number of leading Theosophists.

After his retirement in 1882 Hume began to become politically active. He advocated more democracy and self-government of India to Britain and was instrumental in the founding of the Indian National Congress ( INC) in 1885 involved. From its inception until 1908, he served as General Secretary of the INC.

From 1862 to 1884 he worked as an ornithologist, during which time he collected about 102,000 ornithological exhibits the Indian subcontinent. In 1894 he returned to England and founded in 1910 the still existing South London Botanical Institute in London.

The Indian post dedicated to him in 1973 a stamp.

Footnotes

Works (selection)

• A speech on the Indian National Congress, its origin, Aims and objects, delivered. Calcutta Central Press Co., Calcutta, 1888.
• Agricultural reform in India. W. H. Allen & Co., London, 1879.
• S.R. Mehrotra, Edward C. Moulton (ed.): Selected writings of Allan Octavian Hume. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-565896-5.
• The game birds of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Burma and Sri Lanka. Bhavana, New Delhi 1994.