Proud Biography

Dr Rajendra Prasad, the first president of independent India was an independence activist, lawyer and a delight scholar. He belonged to the Indian National Congress party and was a prominent leader then in the region of Bihar and Maharashtra. He was highly motivated by the philosophy of the great Mahatma Gandhi. Prasad was the only president of India who served two full terms. Early Life and Education Rajendra Prasad was born on 3 December 1884 at Ziradei in the district of Siwan in Bihar. He belonged to a landowning Kayastha family. His father was Mahadev Sahai Srivastava and his mother was Kamleshwari Devi. Mahadev was a scholar in different languages like Sanskrit and Persi along with local Indian languages. Prasad was the youngest child of his parents. Unfortunately, he lost his mother when he was a child. Rajendra Prasad got his elementary education from his family. Then he was sent to the Chapra District School. After that, he and his elder brother went to the T.K. Ghosh's Ac...

Biography of Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar, The Father of Research Laboratories in India Sir Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar was one of the greatest scientists in India. He was a chemist, academic and scientific administrator. He is considered the "Father of Research Laboratories" in India. He played an important role along with Homi J Bhabha , Vikram Sarabhai , Prasanta Chandra Mahalnobis and others in the building of India's post-independence science and technology infrastructure and policies. Family and Education Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar was born on 21 February 1894 in Bhera, Punjab Presidency, British India (now in Pakistan). His father was Parameshwari Sahai Bhatnagar. Unfortunately, he lost his father when he was only eight months old. He grew up in his uncle's house who was an engineer. He had to face a lot of social obstacles during his childhood. Shanti completed his primary education at the Dayanand Anglo-Vedic High School in Sikandrabad. After schooling, he got admitt...

Prafulla Chandra Ray, The Father of Indian Chemical Science Acharya Sir Prafulla Chandra Ray was an Indian Chemist, industrialist and educationist. He is considered the father of Indian Chemical Science. He founded the first pharmaceutical company in India named Bengal Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals. He was regarded as "Master of Nitrites". He is one of the best scientists that India has ever produced. Family and Education Prafulla Chandra Ray was born on 2 August 1861 at "Raruli-Katipara" village in Jessore district, Bengal Presidency, British India (now in Bangladesh). His father was Harish Chandra Raychowdhury who was a Kayastha zamindar. His mother was Bhubanmohini Devi. Prafulla was the third one among his seven siblings. His great grandfather Maniklal was a renowned dewan under British rule. He and his family had a connection with 'Brahma Samaj' created by Raja Rammohan Ray. Prafulla's father used to run a school in the village. So, he studied in hi...

APJ Abdul Kalam, The Missile man of India Avul Pakir Janulabdeen Abdul Kalam was an Indian aerospace scientist. He was the 11 th president of India. He is known as the “Missile Man of India” for his work on the development of ballistic missiles and launch vehicle technology. He was the awardee of India’s highest civilization award ‘Bharat Ratna’. Family and Education  APJ Abdul Kalam was born on 15 October 1931 in the pilgrimage centre of Rameshwaram on Pamban Island, Madras Presidency, British India (now in Tamil Nadu, India). His father Jainulabdeen Marakayar was a boat owner and imam of a local mosque. His mother was Ashiamma. Kalam’s family belongs to “Marakkar”, a Muslim community of south-east Asia. Though Kalam’s family was poverty-stricken, their ancestors were wealthy traders and landowners. He was the youngest of his five siblings. Young Kalam was bound to come down to the street to earn money due to poverty. He had to sell newspapers to add to the family income. But...

Birbal Sahni was an Indian paleobotanist who studied the fossils of the Indian sub-continent. He researched fossil plants and plant evolution in India. He was the founder of the Birbal Sahni Institute of Paleobotany at Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India. FAMILY AND EDUCATION Birbal Sahni was born in Bhera, Shahpur, Punjab, British India (now in Pakistan) on 14 November 1891. Famous meteorologist and physicist Ruchi Ram Sahni was his father. His mother was Ishwar Devi. His grandfather Karam Chand Sahni was also a scholar and well-known merchant in British India. Birbal got his interest in science from his father and grandfather. His grandfather conducted some amateur researches in the field of Chemistry. Ruchi Ram, his father was a professor of Chemistry at Government College, Lahore. When Ruchi Ram studied at Manchester, he got an opportunity to work with world-famous scientists Ernest Rutherford and Neils Bohr. So, Birbal secured an environment that is familiar to the scientific world....

Biography of Har Gobind Khorana Har Gobind Khorana was an Indian-born American biochemist. He lived in India till 1945, then moved to the United States of America and became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1966. He won the Nobel Prize in 1968 for physiology along with Marshall W. Nirenberg and Robert W. Holley. Khorana is considered the founding father of Chemical Biology. Family and Education Khorana was born in a Punjabi Hindu family on 9 January 1922 (estimated). His father was Krishna Devi Khorana and his mother was Ganpat Rai Khorana. His family lived in Raipur, Multan, Punjab, British India (now in Pakistan). His father used to work as a taxation clerk in the British Indian Government. Despite Poverty, his father decided to educate all his five children. As Khorana lived in a very rural area, there is no formal school. So his schooling started under a tree with a group of students and only one teacher. He was very talented from his childhood and attracted the attent...