Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain (December1880 – December 1932), commonly known as Begum Rokeya, was a Bengali feminist thinker, educator and political activist from British India (present day Bangladesh). She is widely regarded as a pioneer of women’s liberation in South Asia.She held education to be the central precondition of women’s liberation. She established the first school aimed primarily at Bengali Muslim girls in Kolkata.
Bangladesh observes Rokeya Day on 9 December every year to commemorate her works and legacy. On that day, Bangladesh government also confers Begum Rokeya Padak on individual women for their exceptional achievement.]

In 2004, Rokeya was ranked number 6 in BBC’s poll .of the Greatest Bengali of all time