Saifuddin Kitchlew, son of Azizuddin Kitchlew and Jan Bibi was born on 15th January, 1888 at Amritsar. After initial education in India he obtained the degree of Bachelor of Arts from Cambridge, Bar-at-Law from London and Ph.D. from Germany. Returning to Inda he soon established himself as a successful lawyer. He also took part in the social & political activities of the town and became the Municipal Commissioner of Amritsar. In 1919, he led the protest meeting against the Rowlett Act at Jalianwala Bagh wherein hundreds were massacred. His arrest alongwith Dr. Satyapal, at the meeting made him a legend even during his own lifetime. He was the guiding spirit behind the Naujawan Bhart Sabha which created revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh and Sukhdev.

He also took part in the All India Khilafat movement. He was the President of the Punjab Provincial Congress for a number of years. In 1924 he was appointed General Secretary of the All India Congress Committee. He was also Chairman of Reception Committee of the Lahore Congress Session (1929) where the Congress declared its goal to be complete independence. An impressive public speaker, he could rouse people to action. The Government therefore kept a vigilant eye on him, sometimes preventing him from addressing the public.

The British Governemnt in India place him under arrest many years. In his speeches he frequently stressed the point that the fiture masters to the country were "the peasants, tillers of the soil, labourers and the workers". He believed that India's freedom could only be attained through India's efforts and not with outside help. For him the partition of India was "a surrender of nationalism i favour of communalism." After independence he associated himself with the Communist Party of India.

The first Indian recepient of the Lenin Award for International Peace, he worked for friendship between India and the USSR. After 1947 he moved to Delhi where he passed away on 9th October 1963.

Source : Information Folder issued by Indian Posts & Telegraph Department, Government of India