chittaranjan das was born in calcutta on 5 november 1870. his family were members of brahmo samaj. das was the son of bhuban mohan das, and nephew of the brahmo social reformer durga mohan das. his father was a solicitor and a journalist. he edited the english church weekly, "the brahmo public opinion". his eldest grandson was siddhartha shankar ray (former chief minister of west bengal) and his granddaughter is justice manjula bose. he is commonly known as desh bandhu. it is an honorific name meaning "friend of the nation".