Justice Mahadev Govind Ranade(18 January 1842 16 January 1901) was a distinguishedIndianscholar, social reformer and author. He was a founding member of theIndian National Congress[1]and owned several designations as member of the Bombay legislative council, member of the finance committee at the centre, and the judge ofBombay High Court.[2]A well known public figure, his personality as a calm and patient optimist would influence his attitude towards dealings with Britain as well as reform in India. During his life he helped establish theVaktruttvottejak Sabha, thePoona Sarvajanik Sabhaand thePrarthana Samaj, and would edit aBombayAnglo-Marathi daily paper, theInduprakash, founded on his ideology of social and religious reform.ReligiousWith his friendsAtmaram Pandurang,Dr.BhandarkarandVaman Abaji Modak, Ranade founded thePrarthana Samaj, aHindumovement inspired by theBrahmo Samaj, espousing principles of enlightenedtheismbased on the ancientVedas. Prarthana Samaj was started by Keshav Chandra Sen, a staunch Brahma Samajist, with the objective of carrying out religious reforms inMaharashtra. He presided a function to honor his friend,Virchand Gandhi, who had defended Indian culture andhinduismin 1893's world religion parliament inChicago, USA.PoliticalRanade founded thePoona Sarvajanik Sabha&Ahmednagar Education Societyand later was one of the originators of theIndian National Congress. He has been portrayed as an early adversary of the politics ofBal Gangadhar Tilakand a mentor toGopal Krishna Gokhale.SocialRanade was a founder of the Social Conference movement, which he supported till his death, directing his social reform efforts against child marriage, the shaving of widows' heads, the heavy cost of marriages and other social functions, and the caste restrictions on traveling abroad, and he strenuously advocated widow remarriage and female education. He was one of the founders of the Widow Marriage Association in 1861.[3]Ranade attempted to work with the structure of weakened traditions, reforming, but not destroying the social atmosphere that was Indias heritage. Ranade valued Indias history, having had a great interest inShivajiand theBhakti movement, but he also recognized the influence that British rule over India had on its development.