Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was born with the name of Abul Kalam Ghulam Muhiyuddin on November 11th 1888 in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. His father Maulana Khairuddin was a renowned Islamic scholar who brought Azad under his tutelage in his early years.
Azad however was inspired by the modernist writings of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan. In his teenage years, he transformed into a dynamic journalist and published Al-Hilal, a Calcutta-based Urdu newspaper that was subsequently banned by the British authorities. An active participant in politics from his youth, he became the president of the Indian National Congress on two occasions - in 1923 and in 1940.
Role in India’s Independence Movement:
Azad was a very active leader of the Indian independence movement. He was a brief but active participant in the Khilafat Movement, in the midst of which he held the post of the president of the All-India Khilafat Committee.
After the Khilafat Movement Azad was inspired by Mahatma Gandhi, and actively participated in his civil disobedience initiatives namely the Dandi March and the Quit India Movement. He was imprisoned at several instances during the period between 1920-1945. He was involved in the negotiations for independence with the British, wherein he vehemently opposed the partition.
Contribution to Constitution Making:
He was elected to the Constituent Assembly from the United Provinces on a Congress ticket. He was a member of five different committees and intervened in the debates around national language and education.
Later Contributions:
After independence, Azad was appointed as the Education Minister, a post that he went on to hold for a decade until 1958 in the Cabinet of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. He was monumental in establishing the Indian Council of Cultural Relations to secure cultural exchange between India and the Eastern Countries.
Azad died on February 22, 1958. He was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna in the year 1992 in recognition of his efforts as a freedom fighter, journalist, scholar, and poet.
Source: https://www.constitutionofindia.net/constituent_assembly_members/maulana_abul_kalam_azad