Pranab Mukherjee

His Excellency

Pranab Mukherjee
His Excellency; Pranab Mukherjee
प्रणब मुखर्जी
13th President of India
	In office; 25 July 2012 – 25 July 2017
Prime Minister	Manmohan Singh ; Narendra Modi
Vice President	Mohammad Hamid Ansari
Preceded by	Pratibha Patil
Succeeded by	Ram Nath Kovind
Minister of Finance
	In office; 24 January 2009 – 24 July 2012
Prime Minister	Manmohan Singh
Preceded by	Manmohan Singh (Acting)
Succeeded by	Manmohan Singh (Acting)
	In office; 5 January 1982 – 31 December 1984
Prime Minister	Indira Gandhi
Preceded by	R. Venkataraman
Succeeded by	V. P. Singh
Minister of Defence
	In office; 22 May 2004 – 26 October 2006
Prime Minister	Manmohan Singh
Preceded by	George Fernandes
Succeeded by	A. K. Antony
Minister of External Affairs
	In office; 24 October 2006 – 22 May 2009
Prime Minister	Manmohan Singh
Preceded by	Manmohan Singh (Acting)
Succeeded by	S. M. Krishna
	In office; 10 February 1995 – 16 May 1996
Prime Minister	P. V. Narasimha Rao
Preceded by	Dinesh Singh
Succeeded by	Sikander Bakht
Leader of the Lok Sabha
	In office; 22 May 2004 – 26 June 2012
Preceded by	Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Succeeded by	Sushilkumar Shinde
Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission
	In office; 24 June 1991 – 15 May 1996
Prime Minister	P. V. Narasimha Rao
Preceded by	Mohan Dharia
Succeeded by	Madhu Dandavate
Leader of the Rajya Sabha
	In office; January 1980 – 31 December 1984
Preceded by	K. C. Pant
Succeeded by	V. P. Singh
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
	In office; 10 May 2004 – 26 June 2012
Preceded by	Abul Hasnat Khan
Succeeded by	Abhijit Mukherjee
Constituency	Jangipur
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
	In office; 1 January 1969 – 1 February 2002
Constituency	Various
Personal details
Born	11 December 1935; Mirati, Bengal Presidency, British India; (now West Bengal, India)
Died	31 August 2020 (aged 84); New Delhi, Delhi, India
Nationality	Indian
Political party	Independent (2012–2020)
Other political; affiliations	Indian National Congress (1971–1986; 1989–2012); Rashtriya Samajwadi Congress (1986–1989); Bangla Congress (1966–1971)
Spouse(s)	Suvra Mukherjee (m. 1957; died 2015)
Children	3 including, Sharmistha Mukherjee; Abhijit Mukherjee;
Alma mater	University of Calcutta (B.A., M.A., LL.B.)
Awards	Bharat Ratna (2019); Padma Vibhushan (2008)
Website	Official website
Nickname(s)	Pranab Da ; Poltuda

Pranab Kumar Mukherjee (11 December 1935^[3] – 31 August 2020) was an Indian politician. He was the 13th President of India serving from 2012 through 2017. He was a member of the Indian National Congress.

Political career

Mukherjee became President on 25 July 2012. He succeeded Pratibha Patil (served 2007–12), India’s first woman president.^[4] Before Mukherjee became President, he had served as Foreign, Defence, Commerce and Finance Minister at different times in his political career. Mukherjee also served as a member of both Lok Sabha (twice) and Rajya Sabha (five times).^[3]

In 2017, Mukherjee decided not to run for re-election and to retire from politics after leaving the presidency due to "health complications relating to old age".^[5]^[6]^[7] He was replaced by Ram Nath Kovind on 25 July 2017.

Life

Mukherjee was born in the village of Mirati in Birbhum District of West Bengal.^[3] Mukherjee’s father, Kamada Kinkar Mukherjee, was deeply involved in India’s struggle for independence from Great Britain in the first half of the 20th century.^[4] Pranab was educated at the Suri Vidyasagar College (then affiliated with the University of Calcutta), and he later earned an advanced degree in history and political science as well as a law degree from the university. He was married to Suvra Mukherjee from 1957 until her death in 18 August 2015(aged 74).^[8]

In early August 2020, Mukherjee was hospitalized in an army hospital after falling in his shower in New Delhi.^[9]^[10] On 10 August, he was diagnosed with COVID-19.^[11] He died on 31 August 2020 from sepsis and a lung infection caused by COVID-19, aged 84.^[12]