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Context: Ministry of Culture along with Department of Chemistry, University of Delhi and Vijnana Bharti (VIBHA) organised a curtain raiser for  two days International Conference on the “Contributions of Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray as a Chemist and Freedom Fighter”

About:

• Known as “Father of Indian Chemistry”, Prafulla Chandra Ray was a well-known Indian scientist and teacher and one of the first “modern” Indian chemical researchers.
• He discovered the stable compound mercurous nitrite in 1896 and established Bengal Chemical and Pharmaceutical Works Ltd, India’s first pharmaceutical company in 1901.
• Also a very passionate and devoted social worker, he did not support the caste system.
• In 1892 with a small capital of 700 INR, he established Bengal Chemical Works. It flourished under his management. The company initially produced herbal products and indigenous medicines. In 1901 the enterprise became a limited company, Bengal Chemical and Pharmaceutical Works Ltd (BCPW) and India’s first pharmaceutical company. Gradually, the company expanded and became a leading chemicals and medicine producer.
• Prafulla Ray was interested in ancient texts and after much research published “The History of Hindu Chemistry” in two volumes in 1902 and 1908
• He was elected as the Indian Science Congress President in 1920.
• His autobiography “Life and Experiences of a Bengali Chemist”, published in two volumes in 1932 and 1935 documents his own motivations as a scientist and the sweeping changes India was experiencing during his lifetime.
• He was a very passionate and devoted social worker and he participated eagerly and actively in helping famine and flood struck people in Bengal during the early 1920s.
• He promoted the khadi material and also established many other industries such as the Bengal Enamel Works, National Tannery Works and the Calcutta Pottery Works.

https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1840822

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