Swami vivekananda education ~ Great Man's History

As a young boy, Narendranath displayed sharp intellect. His mischievous nature belied his interest in music, both instrumental as well as vocal. He excelled in his studies as well, first at the Metropolitan institution, and later at the Presidency College in Calcutta. By the time he graduated from the college, he had acquired a vast knowledge of different subjects.

He was active in sports, gymnastics, wrestling and body building. He was an avid reader and read up on almost everything under the sun. He perused the Hindu scriptures like the Bhagvad Gita and the Upanishads on one hand, while on the other hand he studied western philosophy, history and spirituality by David Hume, Johann Gottlieb Fichte and Herbert Spencer.

In Calcutta(1871-1877)

Swami Vivekananda was born Narendranath Datta on 12 January 1863. In 1871, when he was eight years old, he was enrolled at Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar's Metropolitan Institution. He continued his schooling at Metropolitan Institution till 1877, when his family moved to Raipur, Madhya Pradesh.

Raipur(1877-1879)

In Raipur the Datta family stayed from 1877 to 1879. Mostly Narendranath did not attend any school at Raipur. Rajagopal Chattopadhyaya wrote in his book Swami Vivekananda in India: A Corrective Biography—

There was no school in a remote place like Raipur. So he spent time with his father. It was not only academic. They used to talk and argue a lot during their one-and-half year's stay. Some educated and learned people used to visit their home. Among them Mahendranath remembered Roy Bahadur Bhutnath De, father of future linguist Harinath De, who lived in the same building with them.

Calcutta(1879) High School Graduation

In 1879, the Datta family moved back to Calcutta. Again, we'll follow Rajagopal Chattopadhyaya's Corrective Biography (most of the biographies have unclear infromation, for example, Swami Nikhilananda wrote in his Swami Vivekananda – A Biography—

In 1879 the family returned to Calcutta, and Narendra within a short time graduated from high school in the first division. In the meantime he had read a great many standard books of English and Bengali literature.

It is not clear which school he joined after returning to Calcutta. Anyway, Rajagopal Chattopadhyaya has given us details. He wrote, after returning to Calcutta at 1879, Narendranath applied for readmission at his old school Metropolitan Institution. The school authority was initially reluctant, but later accepted him. Narendranath passed school leaving examination in the First Division from Metropolitan Institution in 1879.

Presidency College(1879)

In 1879, after passing school examination, Narendranath entered the Presidency College, Calcutta. Again Nikhilananda's information is unclear here. He wrote—

. . . in 1879 Narendranath entered the Presidency College of Calcutta for higher studies. After a year he joined the General Assembly's Institution, founded by the Scottish General Missionary Board and later known as the Scottish Church College.

Scottish Church College(1880-1884)

Narendranath left Presidency College and joined Scottish Church College and studied Philosophy. In 1881, he passed F. A. examinations.[1] In 1885, he earned his B. A. degree[2] from the same college.

Note

He was the only one student in his school that year who has the first division mark.

Great Man's History