Father of Indian Chemistry

A prominent scientist, educationist, philanthropist, historian, and industrialist, Prafulla Chandra Ray has been known for his big contributions in many fields. Here’s a look at his life as a revolutionary scientist.

Having been born on August 2nd, 1861, P.C Ray has been known to be one eminent personality who makes it impossible to go unnoticed when someone talks about the Indian field of chemistry. He has had many remarkable achievements and honours under his name, making himself undeniably the greatest scientists India has to offer.

His works and discoveries are largely associated with chemistry. Whether it’s organic, inorganic, or the history of chemistry, he knows it all. You wouldn’t expect any less from the Father of Indian Chemistry. He might have started at the Raruli-Katipara village of the Jessore district under the Bengal Presidency of British India, but he fled to places in his later life.

Ray’s father was a teacher himself who pioneered in English medium as well as women’s education. With that being said, Ray used to study in the same school his father taught in. After a while, they migrated to Calcutta where he continued his schooling in Hare School. However, Ray was unlucky to have gone through a serious attack of dysentery. While it did postpone his studies, a young mind of his got the chance to come across a variety of literature to kill time. In Chemistry, he was a pupil of Professor Alexander Crum Brown, FRS noted for his philosophical outlook and engaging personality. He obtained the B.Sc. degree in 1886 and the D.Sc. degree in 1887. He was awarded the Hope Prize. While being a student of Edinburgh University he was elected vice-president of Edinburgh University Chemical Society in 1888.

Prafulla Chandra returned to India in 1889 and joined Presidency College, Calcutta as Assistant Professor of Chemistry. Though at that time, the Chemistry Department of Presidency College did not boast of any well-equipped world standard laboratory, but a lot of original chemical experimentation occurred there. In 1896, he published a paper on preparation of a new stable chemical compound Mercurous Nitrite. This work made way for a large number of investigative papers on nitrites and hypernitrites of different metals, and on nitrites of ammonia and organic amines. He started a new Indian School of Chemistry in 1924. Ray retired from the Presidency College in 1916 and joined the Calcutta University College of Science (popularly known as Rajabazar Science College) as its first Palit Professor of Chemistry.

He lived a life of extreme self-denial. He became a symbol of plain living. Mahatma Gandhi said: “It is difficult to believe that the man in simple Indian dress wearing simple manners could possibly be the great scientist and professor.” He lived in a single room of University College of Science, Calcutta University. Its furniture consisted of an iron bedstead, a small table, a smaller chair and an almirah with shelves full of books, most of which are English classics. Prafulla Chandra remained unmarried.

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