ACHARYA PRAFULLA CHANDRA RAY

Description

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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.