Mumtaz Begum (born Kalyani Ray Chowdhury; May 20, 1923 – June 30, 1967) was a Bengali language activist from East Pakistan.
[1] She was awarded Ekushey Padak in 2012 by the Government of Bangladesh for her role in language movement.
[2] Begum was born to Mohimchandra Ray, a district judge and later a justice of Kolkata High Court and Makhanmoti Devi, a school teacher.
Later she completed her bachelor's from Bethune College in 1942 and the BEd examination from University of Dhaka in 1951.
[1] During the Bengali Language Movement on February 21, 1952, the first procession of women was led by Begum.