Discover how South Asians shaped the nation, 1870-1950
Upendra Krishna Dutt travelled to Britain in 1875 or 1876 on a Gilchrist Scholarship to study medicine at London University. After qualifying, he remained in Britain practising at Leicester and then buying a medical practice in Cambridge. He faced a deal of racial prejudice in securing employment as a doctor after qualifying. Dutt married the Swedish writer Anna Palme in England. She was a distant relative of Olaf Palme, later Swedish Prime Minister.
The Dutt family were close-knit despite financial insecurity. From 1891, Dutt hosted the Cambridge Majlis society meetings in his home. Two of Dutt's sons, Rajani and Clemens, became active members of the Communist Party of Great Britain. Their involvement in politics was influenced by their father's work as a doctor in working-class areas of Cambridge.
Clemens Palme Dutt, Rajani Palme Dutt.
Callaghan, John, Rajani Palme Dutt (London: Lawrence & Wishart, 1993)
Lahiri, Shompa, Indians in Britain: Anglo-Indian Encounters, Race and Identity, 1800-1930 (London: Frank Cass, 2000)
Visram, Rozina, Asians in Britain: 400 Years of History (London: Pluto, 2002)
R. P. Dutt Papers, Communist Party Archives, University of Central Lancashire