Some of the Distinguished Alumni
of the University of Calcutta
Sunitikumar ChatterjiSunitikumar Chatterji (1890-1977), linguist, educationist and litterateur, was born on 26 October, 1890 at Shivpur in Howrah. Sunitikumar was a meritorious student, and passed the Entrance examination in 1907 from Motilal Free School, ranking sixth, and the F.A. from Scottish Church College, standing third. In London, he studied Phonology, Indo-European Linguistics, Prakrit, Persian, old Irish, Gothic and other languages. He then went to Paris and did research at the Sorbonne in Indo-Aryan, Slav and Indo-European Linguistics, Greek and Latin. Returning to India in 1922, he joined the University of Calcutta as a Professor. After retirement he was made Professor Emeritus and, in 1963, National Professor.
Sunitikumar accompanied Rabindranath Tagore to Malaya, Sumatra, Java, and Bali, where he delivered lectures on Indian art and culture. He was Speaker of the West Bengal Assembly from 1952-1958 and President of the Sahitya Academy (1969).
Among his important publications on both language and literature are the origin and development of the Bengali language, Bengali Phonetic Reader, Bangla Bhasatattver Bhumika (Introduction to Bengali Linguistics), Bharater Bhasa O Bhasa Samasya (Languages and Language Problem of India), Jati Sangskriti Sahitya (Nation, Culture, Literature), Sangskrti Ki (What is Culture), Rabindra Sangame (Towards Unity with Raindranath), Pashchimer Yatri (Traveller to the West), Europe Bhraman (Travels in Europe), Dvipamay Bharat (India of Many Islands), etc. He was awarded the title of Bhasacharya by Rabindranath Tagore, Sahitya Vachaspati (1948) by Allahabad Hindi Literary Conference and Padma Vibhushan (1948) by the Government of India
Prasantachandra MahalanobisPrasantachandra Mahalanobis (1893-1972) was an Indian scientist and applied statistician. He graduated in Physics in 1912 from Presidency College, Calcutta and completed Tripos at King's College, Cambridge. He then returned to Calcutta. He is best known for the Mahalanobis distance, a statistical measure. He did pioneering work on anthropometric variation in India. He founded the Indian Statistical Institute on 17 December, 1931 and contributed to large-scale sample surveys.
In later life, he contributed prominently to newly independent India's five-year plans starting from the second. His variant of Wassily Leontief's Input-output model was employed in the second and later plans to work towards rapid industrialisation of India and with his colleagues at his Institute, he played a key role in developing the required statistical infrastructure.
He received one of the highest civilian awards Padma Vibhushan from the Government of India for his contribution to science and services to the country.
He died on June 28, 1972, a day before his seventy-ninth birthday. Even at this age, he was still active doing research work and discharging his duties as the Secretary and Director of the Indian Statistical Institute and as the Honorary Statistical Advisor to the Cabinet of the Government of India.
Meghnad Saha
Meghnad Saha (1893-1956) was an astrophysicist. He was born on 6 October, 1893 in Dhaka. He studied at Dhaka Collegiate School, and later at Dhaka College. He was a student at Presidency College, Calcutta ; a Professor at Allahabad University from 1923 to 1938 and thereafter a Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of Calcutta until his death in 1956. He became Fellow of the Royal Society in 1927. He was president of the 21st session of the Indian Science Congress in 1934.
He invented an instrument to measure the weight and pressure of solar rays. He produced the famous equation which he called 'equation of the reaction - isobar for ionisation' which later became known as Saha's "Thermo-Ionisation Equation", or the Saha Equation.
Meghnad Saha's basic work was on the Thermal ionisation of elements and it led him to formulate what is known as the Saha equation. Saha's equation is one of the basic tools for interpretation of the spectra of stars in astrophysics. By studying the spectra of various stars, one can find their temperature and from that, using Saha's equation, determine the ionisation state of the various elements in the star. He was also associated with building several scientific institutions like the Physics Department in Allahabad University and the Institute of Nuclear Physics in Calcutta. He founded the journal, Science and Culture and was its editor till his death.
Saha was the leading spirit in organising the scientific societies and institutions like the 'National Academy of Science' (1930), the 'Indian Physical Society' (1934), 'Indian Institute of Science' (1935) and the 'Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science' (1944). The lasting memorial to him is the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics founded in 1943 in Kolkata. He was the chief architect of river planning in India. He prepared the original plan for Damodar Valley Project.
Satyendranath BoseSatyendranath Bose (1894-1974), the physicist, specially known for his theory of quantum statistics, a pioneer of practicing science in Bengal, was born in Calcutta on 1 January, 1894. He passed the I.Sc. in 1911 from Presidency College, Calcutta securing the first position. Satyendranath obtained the B.Sc.degree in Mathematics in 1913 and M.Sc. degree in Mixed Mathematics in 1915 from Presidency College. After completing the M.Sc. degree from Presidency College, Bose paid his full attention to research on Mixed Mathematics and Physics under the fellowship with Meghnad Saha at Science College. Bose joined the newly established Dhaka University in 1921 as a Reader in the Department of Physics and later became the head of the department. While at Dhaka University, Bose worked hard in establishing the department and sincerely performed research work for twenty years at a stretch. His research on Theoretical Physics and X-ray Crystallography made him a celebrity worldwide. In 1924, Bose published his celebrated article entitled 'Planck’s Law and the Light Quantum Hypothesis'. The great physicist Albert Einstein praised the article and translated it into German. He also made proper arrangements to focus the hypothesis to the scientists through publishing it in science journals. The hypothesis received a great attention and was highly appreciated by the scientists. It became famous to the scientists as 'Bose-Einstein Theory'. One kind of particle in atom has been named after his name as 'Boson'. Bose placed his name in the history of science by solving some of the complex mathematical equations of the theory of relativity.
In 1929, Satyendranath Bose was elected Chairman of Physics of the Indian Science Congress and in 1944 elected Chairman of the Congress. He became Professor of Physics of the University of Calcutta in 1945. He also served as Khaira Professor and Dean of the Postgraduate Science Faculty. He was appointed Professor Emeritus of the University in 1958. In 1956, Professor Bose was made Vice-Chancellor of Visva-Bharati University and served there till 1958. The Government of India appointed him National Professor in 1959.
Professor Bose was a fellow of the Royal Society of London in 1958. He was nominated a member of the Rajya Sabha (Parliament) in 1952. Satyendranath Bose played a pioneering role in popularising science in Bengali language. With a view to upholding this object Professor Bose established 'Bangiya Bijnan Parisad' in Calcutta and published its organ entitled Jnan O Bijnan'. He was awarded 'Deshikottom' by Visva-Bharati University and 'Padma Bhusan' by the Indian Government in appreciation of his outstanding achievements
