Shyam Nandan Mishra was born in Gonawan, Patna, India on 20 October 1920 in a Bhumihar Brahmin family.

[2] Mishra's political career began with his membership in the Provisional Parliament of India, as the Constituent Assembly was called after the promulgation of the Constitution, between 1950–52.

In 1975, when the principal opposition party leaders were arrested in the first hours of the Emergency, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Lal Krishna Advani, Madhu Dandavate and Shyam Nandan Mishra were detained together on 26 June in Bangalore, where they had gone to take part in a parliamentary commission.

[3][1] From 1954 to 1973, Mishra was member of various Indian parliamentary delegations abroad and represented the country in several international events in Sri Lanka, Europe, and the United States.

In his condolence message at his death, the Governor of Bihar, Justice Mandagadde Rama Jois, who had, during the Emergency, challenged Mishra's detention in the High Court of Karnataka, said in a message of condolence, "The nation has lost a great partiot, a freedom fighter, a true Gandhian and a Congressman.