Harendra Coomar Mookerjee (1877-1956) was the Governor

Governor

A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...

 of West Bengal

West Bengal

West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...

 from November 1, 1951 through August 8, 1956.

Mookerjee was the first Indian to receive a Doctor of Philosophy degree

Ph.D.

A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...

 (from the University of Calcutta

University of Calcutta

The University of Calcutta is a public university located in the city of Kolkata , India, founded on 24 January 1857...

). Mookerjee's doctorate

Doctorate

A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...

 was in English literature

English literature

English literature is the literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; for example, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Joseph Conrad was Polish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, J....

, and he went on to become a philanthropist

Philanthropist

A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...

, Chancellor of the University of Calcutta (as the Governor of West Bengal), Vice President of the Constituent Assembly of India

Constituent Assembly of India

The Constituent Assembly of India was elected to write the Constitution of India, and following independence served as the nation's first Parliament.-Nature of the Assembly:...

, and Chairman of the Minorities Committee of that assembly.

Following the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly, Dr Mookerjee was appointed Governor of West Bengal

Governor of West Bengal

The Governor of West Bengal is a nominal head and representative of the President of India in the state of West Bengal. The Governor is appointed by the President for a term of five years. H.E. Mayankote Kelath Narayanan is the current governor...

. He died in office on August 8, 1956.