E. J. Beck

Other names: 

Emma Josephine Beck

Miss Beck

Jessie Beck

1
Precise DOB unknown: 
Y
Date of death: 
01 Jan 1936
Location of death: 
Allahabad, India
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About: 

E. J. Beck was Honorary Secretary of the National Indian Association from 1905. She was the younger sister of Theodore Beck, Principal of the Mahomedan Anglo-Oriental College in Aligarh, and lived in India with him when he was Principal. After his death, she returned to London and became involved in the National Indian Association. On the death of E. A. Manning in 1905, Miss Beck became Honorary Secretary. She did not however edit its organ, The Indian Magazine and Review, for long, and employed Miss A. A. Smith to take on editorial duties. Beck was present at the NIA event at the Imperial Institute at which Madan Lal Dhingra assassinated Sir Curzon-Wyllie and was called as a witness to Dhingra's trial. She retired in 1932 and The Indian Magazine and Review stopped printing.

She died in Allahabad on 1 January 1936 while on a tour of India to visit friends. Cornelia Sorabji was in Allahabad at the time and recounted the last days of Miss Beck for the NIA.

Connections: 

Abdullah Yusuf Ali, Muhammad Ali, Theodore Beck (brother), Sir Curzon-Wyllie, Madan Lal Dhingra, Elizabeth Adelaide Manning, Sarojini Naidu, Miss A. A. Smith, Cornelia Sorabji, Mrs J. D. Westbrook.

Involved in events: 

Present at murder of Sir Curzon-Wyllie at Imperial Institute, 1 July 1909

3
Contributions to periodicals: 

The Daily Telegraph (interview about Curzon-Wyllie murder, 3 July 1909)

Reviews: 

The Times, 4 and 15 January 1936 (obituaries)

4
Archive source: 

Special Issue: Commemoration of Miss E. J. Beck, The Indian Magazine and Review, March 1936, Mss Eur F147/23, Asian and African Studies Reading Room, British Library, St Pancras

NIA minutes (1905-29), Mss Eur F147/9-14, Asian and African Studies Reading Room, British Library, St Pancras