Celebrating a legacy of 175 glorious years
AGRA: St Peter’s College has released a calendar to celebrate the completion of 175 years of its existence.
The chairman of the Minority Commission of Uttar Pradesh, Ashfaq Saifi, was present at the function organised on Friday on the college premises and released the calendar which provides a window to the glorious past of this school run by the Archdiocese of Agra.
“The year 2021 was historic for us as it was the Dodransbicentennial (175th year) of existence of St Peter’s College. However, the pandemic forced us to cancel year-long events and celebrations. But now, with the reopening of the college in full strength, it was decided to start year-long celebrations this academic year,” said Rev Fr Andrew Correia, principal of St Peter’s College, located in the heart of the city, on Wazirpura road.
“The calendar shares the stories of all luminaries who helped make St Peter’s College what it is today. It informs about founders, rectors, principals, teachers and all those who had an impact on the history of College braving 175 years,” said Fr Correia.
Founded in 1846 – one of the oldest institutions of north India – the high bell house can be viewed on the skyline of the city from any place, and the grand Cathedral of Immaculate Conception forms the face of the college as one looks at the campus from the road. The Cathedral is a known landmark of the historic city of Agra.
“St Peter’s College was founded by His Grace the Most Rev Dr Anthony Joseph Borghi, OC, the then Archbishop of Agra. It is an unaided Christian minority institution owned by the Archdiocese of Agra, and affiliated to the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination, New Delhi,” said Fr Correia.
“St Peter’s College began as a boarding school in 1841, was transferred to its present building in 1846 which has been accepted as the founding year of the College. Since the First War of Independence in 1857, St Peter’s has stood as a witness to the freedom struggle and to the changes that have taken place since then. The College had achieved such prominence by 1870 that the then visiting inspector wrote in his report that it would ‘bear no unfavourable comparison with the best institutions of a similar kind in England and Europe’, the principal said.
In the same year, the school was affiliated to Calcutta University
for its First Entrance Examination, and was henceforth called a ‘College’. After Independence, the College re- oriented its studies and co-curricular activities to suit the requirements of a free country and a developing society. In 1962, the last batch of students appeared for the Senior Cambridge Examination, conducted by the Cambridge University and from 1963, the Indian School Certificate Examination was introduced. In 1977 the 10+ 2 system began.
“As a result of the high reputation of the college many dignitaries like the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Edinburgh, Lord Hailey, General Collins, Lt Gov Mcdonnell, Lt Gov Sir John Meston, Duke & Duchess of Connaught, Lord Lytton, Sir Alfred Lyall, Lord Ripon, Lord Northbrook, Sir John Strachey visited the college in the past,” Fr Correia said.
Mother Teresa, now St Teresa of Calcutta, also paid a visit to the college.
Sports personalities like Ajit Wadekar, Vijay Hazare, Madan Lal, Kapil Dev, Ajay Jadeja, Murali Kartik, Nayan Mongia and Mohammad Kaif, PT Usha, former table tennis player Manjeet Singh Dua, Olympic medallist Rajavardhan Rathore, former hockey player Ashok Dhyanchand, international weightlifter Karnam Malleshwari, Indian women’s cricket players Deepti Sharma and Poonam Yadav; Padmashree Awardee and international cricket player Harbhajan Singh, international wrestler Dalip Singh Rana (The Great Khali); Indian cricket player Deepak Chahar also paid a visit to the Institution.
Other dignitaries like Bollywood playback singer and actors Kishore Kumar, Sunil Dutt, Raj Babbar, Jackie Shroff and Rahul Roy; former IPS officer Kiran Bedi, former Air Marshal AK Singh, AOC, Western Command, the ambassadors of the Holy See to India & Nepal Their Excellencies Most Rev Dr Augustino Cacciavillan, Most Rev Dr Salvatore Pennacchio, Most Rev Dr Giambattista Diquattro, Most Rev Dr Pedro Lopez Quintana, Most Rev Dr Leopoldo Girelli; ambassador to Nepal Shiv Shankar Mukherjee; secretary, ministry of defence Ranjit Issar, former president of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai, have also visited the institution, the principal said.