Dr Upendranath Bramhachari






Remembering Sir Upendranath Brahmachari, one of the nation's outstanding scientists,  on his birth anniversary:


Rai Bahadur Sir Upendranath Brahmachari (19 December 1873 – 6 February 1946) was an Indian scientist and a leading medical practitioner of his time. 


He was nominated twice for the Nobel Prize, in 1929 and 1942. 


Early life:

Upendranath Brahmachari was born on 19 December 1873 in Sardanga village in Burdwan District of West Bengal, India. His father Nilmony Brahmachari was a physician in the  East Indian Railways. His mother's name was Saurabh Sundari Devi. In 1898, he married Nani Bala Devi.


Education:

He completed his early education from Eastern Railways Boys' High School, Jamalpur. In 1893, he passed BA degree from Hooghly Mohsin College with honours in Mathematics and Chemistry. Thereafter he went to study Medicine and Higher Chemistry. He passed his master's degree in 1894 from the Presidency College, Kolkata. In the M.B. Examination of 1900 of the University of Calcutta, he stood first in Medicine and in Surgery for which he received the  Goodeve and Macleod awards. He obtained his MD degree in 1902, and was awarded a PhD degree in 1904, for his research paper on "Studies in Haemolysis" both from the University of Calcutta. 


Personal life: 

He married Nani Bala Devi in 1898. They had two children,  Phanindra Nath Brahmachari and 

Nirmal Kumar Brahmachari.


Professional Career:

He synthesized  Urea-Stibamine (carbostibamide) in 1922 and determined that it was an effective treatment for Kala-azar (Visceral leishmaniasis).


In 1922, Brahmachari also  discovered a new, deadly form of leishmaniasis. It was marked by the appearance of sudden eruptions on the face of the patients without fever or other complaints. He observed it as a disease in partially cured cases of kala-azar, along with those who had no history of the disease at all.  It has since been termed as post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis (PKDL).


Institutions:

Brahmachari was associated with the following universities, colleges and institutions:

University of Calcutta

Campbell Medical School 

Carmichael Medical College 

Dhaka Medical College and Hospital

Calcutta Medical College

National Medical Institute

Indian Council of Medical Research

University College of Science, Calcutta

Indian Red Cross Society

Calcutta School of Tropical Medicine

Zoological Garden, Kolkata


Awards and Honours:

He was awarded the title of Rai Bahadur and awarded the Kaisar-i-Hind Gold Medal, 1st Class by the Governor General Lord Lytton (1924)

In 1934, he was conferred a Knighthood by the British Government (1934)

Brahmachari was a nominee for the Nobel Prize twice in 1929 and 1942 in the category of physiology and medicine. 

He was the President of the Indian Chemical Society, Calcutta (1936). 

He was honoured with the fellowship of the Royal Society of Medicine, London.


Important works:

Studies in Haemolysis, Calcutta University, 1909

Kala-Azar : Its treatment, Butterworth  Ltd,1917.

Kala-Azar in Doctor Carl Mense’s Handbuch der Tropenkranahaiten, 1926.

Treatise on Kala-Azar, John Bale, Son’s & Danielsson Ltd, 1928.

Campaign against Kala-Azar in India, Jubilee Publication on the 80th birthday of Dr. Prof. Bernhard Nocht, 1937.

Progress of Medical Research work in India during the last 25 years, and progress of Science in India, during the past 25 years, Indian Science Congress Association 1938.

Gleanings from my Researches Vol. I, Calcutta University 1940

Gleanings from my Researches Vol. II Calcutta University 1941

Infantile Biliary Cirrhosis in India in British Encyclopedia of Medical practice. 


Sir Upendranath Brahmachari was one of the many Indian scientists who made the nation proud in early 20th century India. Sadly, this pool of talent  seems to have dried up now, with many graduates from the prestigious IITs and other institutes  of higher scientific education in India preferring to seek greener pastures abroad.


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