Pritilata Waddedar

Pritilata Waddedar (5 May 1911 – 24 September 1932) was a Bengali revolutionary nationalist from Chittagong (now Bangladesh) who was influential in the Indian independence movement. She is often praised as "Bengal's first woman martyr". After completing her education from Dr. Khastagir Government Girls' High School in Chittagong and Eden Mohila College in Dhaka, Pritilata graduated in philosophy from the Bethune College in Calcutta. She worked as a school teacher for sometime before becoming part of the Indian Independence movement. In 1932, she joined a revolutionary group headed by Surya Sen. In September 1932, she led a group of revolutionaries in an armed attack on the Pahartali European Club. The revolutionaries torched the club and shot at it later, and one person was killed and eleven people were injured in the attack. After being cornered by the colonial police, Pritilata committed suicide by consuming potassium cyanide as planned earlier.