Dr. Zakir Husain was born on 8th February 1897, in Hyderabad. Dr. Husain was born to Fida Husain Khan and Naznin Begum. His father Fida Husain was a very popular advocate. His father died when he was only 10. The next year, Zakir and his family shifted to Etawah in Uttar Pradesh. He completed his school education from Islamic High School, Etawah. When he was 14, his mother too passed away leaving Husain and his six siblings orphaned.
Later, he enrolled at the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College, which is now popularly known by the name of Aligarh Muslim University, where he was a prominent student leader.
In 1918, he passed his BA Honours, and joined for the MA course, but the Khilafat and non-cooperation movement led by Mahatma Gandhi, inspired him to leave the government administered college. For two years, from 1920 to 1922, he took up the position of a teacher at Jamia Milia University. He translated Plato’s ‘Republic’, and Cannon’s ‘Elementary Political Economy’, into Urdu. He received his doctorate in economics from the Frederick William University of Berlin.
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