Childhood Life

All official and unofficial documents related to Professor Momtazuddin Ahmed list his date of birth as January 18, 1935. However, according to his father's family records, his actual birth date was December 17, 1933. He was born on a winter Sunday afternoon around 3 PM, in the village of Aiho under Habibpur police station, in the Malda district of West Bengal.
The discrepancy in the birth date arose because, at the time of his school admission, the headmaster calculated the date in a way that would make Momtazuddin Ahmed 22 years old upon completing his Master's degree. As a result, his birth date was adjusted forward by one year, one month, and one day at enrollment.
Immediately after his birth, he was named Tamizuddin Miah. However, a respected village scholar, Yakub Ali, disapproved of the name and suggested Momtazuddin instead. Following his father's decision, the new name Momtazuddin Miah was officially given. His nickname, however, was Manjur. While his grandmother, maternal grandmother, aunts, and others called him Manjur, his father and uncles used the formal name Momtaz.
Professor Momtazuddin Ahmed’s education began at the age of four, through his beloved elder sister Anju Bubu, who taught him rhymes and poems by heart. He started learning the alphabet from a primer bought at the village market on a market day. His father had strictly instructed the private tutor, Rais Sir, to be very disciplined with him. However, Rais Sir could never bring himself to enforce strict discipline due to the deep affection and indulgence shown by Momtazuddin’s grandmother.