Womesh Chunder Bonnerjee

Womesh Chunder Bonnerjee
1st & 8th President of Indian National Congress
In office 1885–1886
Preceded by	post established
Succeeded by	Dadabhai Naoroji
In office 1892–1893
Preceded by	Anandacharlu
Succeeded by	Dadabhai Naoroji
Personal details
Born	(1844-12-29)29 December 1844 Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British India (present-day Kolkata, West Bengal, India)
Died	21 July 1906(1906-07-21) (aged 61) Croydon, London, England
Nationality	British Indian
Political party	Indian National Congress
Spouse	Hemangini Motilal ​ (m. 1859)​
Alma mater	Middle Temple
Occupation	Lawyer
Known for	Co-founder and First president of Indian National Congress

Womesh Chunder Bonnerjee (or Umesh Chandra Banerjee (29 December 1844 – 21 July 1906) was an Indian barrister who practiced in England. He was a secretary of the London Indian society founded by Dadabhai Naoroji in 1865. He was a co-founder and the first president of Indian National Congress in 1885 at Bombay, served again as president in 1892 at Allahabad.^[1] Bonnerjee financed the British Committee of Congress and its journals in London. Along with Naoroji, Eardley Norton and William Digby he started the Congress Political Agency, a branch of Congress in London. He unsuccessfully contested the 1892 United Kingdom general election as a Liberal party candidate for the Barrow and Furness seat. In 1893, Naoroji, Bonnerjee and Badruddin Tyabji founded the Indian Parliamentary Committee in England.