Prafulla Chandra Ray (1861-1944) was an Indian scientist, professor, industrialist and philanthropist. He is known as the “father of Indian chemistry.” He established India’s first pharmaceutical company, ‘Bengal Chemical and Pharmaceuticals.’ He discovered the compound Mercurous Nitrite. Prafulla Chandra Ray also established the first modern Indian Research School in Chemistry.
Wiki/Biography
Prafulla Chandra Ray was born on Friday, 2 August 1861 (age 82 years; at the time of death), in Bengal Presidency, British India (now in the Khulna District, Khulna Division, Bangladesh). His early education started in his village school. He then went to Kolkata, where he studied at Hare School. In 1878, he was admitted to Metropolitan College (now, Vidyasagar College) as an F.A. student. He then pursued a B.A. course at the University of Calcutta. While studying at Metropolitan College, he studied physics and chemistry at Presidency College. In 1885, he received a B.Sc degree from the University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
Family
Parents & Siblings
Prafulla Chandra Ray was the son of Harish Chandra Ray and Bhubanmohini Devi. His father was a landlord, and his mother was a well-educated woman. Prafulla Chandra Ray had six siblings – four brothers, and two sisters.
Wife & Children
Prafulla Chandra Ray never got married.
Signature/Autograph
Prafulla Chandra Ray’s signature
Career
Scientific Work
Nitrite Chemistry
Mercurous nitrite
In 1895, Prafulla Chandra discovered the mercurous nitrite. The preparation of mercurous nitrite was an accidental discovery. He wanted to prepare water-soluble mercurous nitrate as an intermediate for the synthesis of calomel. Accordingly, dilute aqueous nitric acid was reacted with excess mercury. This resulted in the formation of yellow crystalline mercurous nitrate.
The first page of Prafulla Chandra Ray’s paper on nitrites of mercury
Ammonium and alkylammonium nitrites
A remarkable contribution of Prafulla Chandra Ray was the synthesis of ammonium nitrite in the pure form via double displacement between ammonium chloride and silver nitrite. The success with the preparation of ammonium nitrite led Prafulla Chandra to develop the chemistry of alkylammonium nitrites. He prepared a family of such compounds by double displacement of alkylamine hydrochlorides and silver nitrite.
Literary Work
Life and Experience of a Bengali Chemist
‘Life and Experience of a Bengali Chemist’ is an autobiography of Prafulla Chandra Ray. The first volume of his autobiography was released in 1932, and the second volume was released in 1935.
‘Life and Experiences of a Bengali Chemist’ – Autobiography of Prafull Chandra Ray
A History of Hindu Chemistry from the Earliest Times to the Middle of Sixteenth Century
He published ‘A History of Hindu Chemistry from the Earliest Times to the Middle of Sixteenth Century’. The first volume was published in 1902, and the second volume was released in 1909.
A picture of Prafulla Chandra Ray in 1909
Academic Work
University of Edinburgh
In 1888, he was elected the Vice President, of the Edinburgh University Chemical Society.
Presidency College
In 1889, he worked as Assistant Professor of Chemistry, at the Presidency College.
University College of Science
In 1916, he joined the University College of Science, Kolkata as a Palit Professor of Chemistry.
Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray Laboratory, University College of Science and Technology, Calcutta
Indian Science Congress
In 1920, he was elected the President of the Indian Science Congress.
Industrial Work
In 1892, Prafulla Chandra Ray established India’s first pharmaceutical company, ‘Bengal Chemical and Pharmaceuticals.’ He also established the first modern Indian Research School in Chemistry in 1924.
Prafulla Chandra Ray working at Bengal Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals
Awards, Honours, Achievements
Academic/Fellowship
- In 1887, the Faraday Gold Medal of the University of Edinburgh
- In 1943, Fellow of the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science
- In 1935, Foundation Fellow of the National Institute of Sciences of India
- In 1919, Honorary Member of the Deutsche Akademie, Munich
- Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal
- In 1902, Fellow of the Chemical Society
Honorary Doctorates
- In 1912, Honorary D.Sc. degree from Durham University
- In 1920, Honorary D.Sc. degree from Banaras Hindu University
- In 1908, Honorary Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Calcutta
- In 1920 and 1936, Honorary D.Sc. degree from the University of Dhaka
- In 1937, Honorary D.Sc. degree from the University of Allahabad
Other Awards and Honours
- In 1932, Felicitated by the Corporation of Calcutta on his 70th birthday
- In 1933, Felicitated by the Corporation of Karachi
- In 1936, ‘Title of Jnanabaridi’ from Korotia College, Mymensingh (now the Government Saadat College)
- In 1941, Felicitated by the Corporation of Calcutta on his 80th birthday
- In 1912, awarded the Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire
- In 1919, the title of Knight Bachelor
- In 2011, the Chemical Landmark Plaque of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) – the first outside Europe
Bust of Prafulla Chandra Ray in Kolkata
Death
Prafulla Chandra Ray died on 16 June 1944 at the age of 82 in his room at Calcutta University.
Facts/Trivia
- A documentary film about Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray was made by Indian filmmaker Harisadhan Dasgupta in 1961.
- He delivered his last lecture on 24 April 1943.
- To commemorate his birth anniversary, a postage stamp was issued by India Post on 2 August 1961.
A postage stamp honouring Prafulla Chandra Ray
- At the age of 60, he donated all of his salary from that date onwards to the development of the Department of Chemistry.
- Prafulla Chandra Ray retired at the age of 75 in 1936.
- The nickname of Prafulla Chandra Ray was Fulu. ((Science India Forum-UAE))
- In 1887, Prafulla Chandra Ray got the ‘Hope Prize’ for his thesis ‘Conjugated Sulphates of Copper
Magnesium Group: A study of Isomorphous Mixtures and Molecular Combination.’
- Mahatma Gandhi invited Prafulla Chandra Ray to inaugurate the Gujarat Vidyapeeth in 1920.
