Mrs. A. V. N. College, Visakhapatnam

The Mrs. A. V. N. College at Visakhapatnam grew from a school of 1860.¹ Its present name comes from a bequest made in 1892 by a citizen of the town, A. V. Narasinga Rao.¹ In 1939–40 it was a second-grade college of the Andhra University.²

The Anglo-Vernacular School

According to the Andhra University’s register for 1939–40, the school was founded in 1860.¹ Four men founded it:¹

Sir Alexander Grant, Inspector of Schools¹
Mr. E. Fane, Collector of Vizagapatam¹
the Maharaja G. N. Gajapathi Rao¹
Chandika Venkataswami Naidu¹

It was first called the Anglo-Vernacular School, because it taught both English and a local language.¹ When it became a second-grade college of the University of Madras, it took the name Hindu College.¹

A gift in his wife’s name

In 1892 A. V. Narasinga Rao of Visakhapatnam left one lakh of rupees in his will.¹ He also left Rs. 15,000 for buildings.¹ The money was for a college to be called “The Mrs. A. V. Narasinga Rao College”, after his wife.¹ On 1 April 1899 the committee of the new college took over the Hindu College and built on it.¹ The college’s funds were kept in the Government Treasury at Visakhapatnam.¹

Who ran it

The register says a committee of seven ran the college.¹ The Collector of the district chaired it, and the District Educational Officer was a member.³ The executors of Narasinga Rao’s will, or their successors, were members too.¹³ In 1939–40 its endowment came to Rs. 1,00,200.³

The Madras government built a hostel for the college from provincial funds, at a cost of Rs. 63,000.⁴ The Director’s report for 1931–32 records it.⁴

Prizes for girls and boys

The college gave scholarships and medals in memory of teachers and donors.³⁵ One scholarship remembered R. Chandrasekhara Ayyar, a former vice-principal.³ His sons, among them the scientist Sir C. V. Raman, founded it.³ One scholarship was for a poor girl student who did well in Sanskrit.³ Another prize was kept for a girl in the first-year class.⁵

Where the sources disagree

No disagreement was found among the sources used for this page.

Andhra University: The Annual Register 1939–40, p. 376 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴ ↩¹⁵ ↩¹⁶ ↩¹⁷
Andhra University: The Annual Register 1939–40 (1939), p. 302, list of colleges (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩
Andhra University: The Annual Register 1939–40, p. 377 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷
Report on Public Instruction in the Madras Presidency for 1931–32 (with the review of the quinquennium 1927–32), p. 49, in the bound volume of reports for 1928–29 and later years (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²
Andhra University: The Annual Register 1939–40, p. 378 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩²