HUMBLE ORIGINS
Pranab Mukherjee was born on December 11, 1935, in Mirati village in West Bengal's Birbhum district. His parents were both freedom fighters. After early stints as a college teacher and journalist, he shifted to politics
ELECTED 5 TIMES TO RAJYA SABHA
In 1969, Mukherjee was elected to the Rajya Sabha. He went onto be re-elected four more times — in 1975, 1981, 1993 and 1999
FAMILY TIME
Pranab Mukherjee and wife Suvra Mukherjee celebrate Holi in 1980. They married 23 years earlier on July 13, 1957. The couple has two sons — Abhijit and Indrajeet — and a daughter, Sharmistha
MENTORED BY INDIRA GANDHI
Mukherjee with PM Indira Gandhi at the AICC meet on Dec 28, 1983. Under Gandhi's mentorship, his political career progressed rapidly and he served in multiple ministries
BUDGET DAY
Mukherjee became finance minister for the first time in 1982 in Indira Gandhi's cabinet. Here, he carries Budget papers as he heads to Parliament on Feb 29, 1984
EXTENSIVE DIPLOMATIC EXPERIENCE
Mukherjee became external affairs minister for the first time in 1995. He met then British PM Margaret Thatcher at South Block in New Delhi the same year
DEPUTY CHAIR OF PLANNING COMMISSION
Under PV Narasimha Rao as PM, Mukherjee was named deputy chair of Planning Commission in 1991
CRUCIAL ROLE
Under the two UPA governments, Mukherjee served as defence, foreign and finance minister at different points. He played a crucial role as consensus builder among diverse political parties for Sonia Gandhi and the Congress
TRADEMARK STYLE
Mukherjee was a great lover of pipes even after he quit smoking years earlier. He later donated his collection of 500 smoking pipes to the Rashtrapati Bhavan Museum
STELLAR CAREER
In 2012, Mukherjee contested elections to the office of the President. Here he is on his last day as a minister in his office at North Block on June 26, 2012
SUMMER TO MONSOON
Mamata Banerjee once described her relationship with Mukherjee as "sometimes summer while sometimes monsoon". In 2012, Banerjee backed his candidature as President in a complete U-turn from her earlier stance
INDIA'S 13TH PRESIDENT
Mukherjee served as the 13th President of India from July 2012 to July 2017, entering office during UPA-I and finishing under NDA
INDIA'S HIGHEST CIVILIAN HONOUR
Mukherjee was of the firm belief that the "soul of India resides in pluralism". In 2019, he was conferred upon the Bharat Ratna