Dadabhai Naoroji (1825-1917), First Indian MP

Sitter in 4 portraits
Born the son of a poor Parsi priest, Naoroji was educated near Bombay at Elphinstone College where he eventually became the first Indian professor and an active participant in reform societies. In 1855, he came to London to open a branch of the firm of Cama & Co., of which he was a partner, and combined commerce, politics and teaching. Commuting in the following decades between India and Britain, he campaigned to open the Indian Civil Service to Indians and on what he saw was the drain of Indian financial resources caused by British rule. He was one of the founders of the Indian National Congress in 1885 and served as a British MP from 1892 until 1895.