Animesh Chakravorty FNA, FASc (born 30 June 1935) is a

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

Indian

inorganic chemist Inorganic chemistry deals with synthesis and behavior of inorganic and organometallic compounds. This field covers chemical compounds that are not carbon-based, which are the subjects of organic chemistry. The distinction between the two discipl ...

. In 1975, he was awarded the

Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology The Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology (SSB) is a science award in India given annually by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) for notable and outstanding research, applied or fundamental, in biology, ...

in chemistry by the

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (IAST: ''vaigyanik tathā audyogik anusandhāna pariṣada''), abbreviated as CSIR, was established by the Government of India in September 1942 as an autonomous body that has emerged as the l ...

Early life and education

The eldest of six children, Chakravorty was born in

Mymensingh Mymensingh ( bn, ময়মনসিংহ) is the capital of Mymensingh Division, Bangladesh. Located on the bank of Brahmaputra River, about north of the national capital Dhaka, it is a major financial center and educational hub of north- ...

to Dr. Jogendra Chandra Chakravorty, a general practitioner and eye specialist, and his wife Tarubala. From an early age, his father inspired him towards a scientific career. Chakravorty received his early education in the city's Edward School, followed by studies at the Mrityunjoy School. Following the independence and partition of India, his family remained in what had become the Pakistani province of

East Bengal ur, , common_name = East Bengal , status = Province of the Dominion of Pakistan , p1 = Bengal Presidency , flag_p1 = Flag of British Bengal.svg , s1 = Ea ...

until 1949, when they left Mymensingh for

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, commer ...

. Chakravorty completed his secondary education at the Mitra Institution and was admitted to the

Scottish Church College Scottish Church College is a college affiliated by Calcutta University, India. It offers selective co-educational undergraduate and postgraduate studies and is the oldest continuously running Christian liberal arts and sciences college in A ...

in 1950, from which he took his Intermediate in Science in 1952, followed by an honours degree in chemistry. Admitted to the University College of Science of the

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a public collegiate state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered one of best state research university all over India every yea ...

for his master's degree in chemistry, Chakravorty was inspired by new developments in

inorganic chemistry Inorganic chemistry deals with synthesis and behavior of inorganic and organometallic compounds. This field covers chemical compounds that are not carbon-based, which are the subjects of organic chemistry. The distinction between the two disci ...

, including quantum bonding theories and new analytical techniques such as spectroscopy. After completing his master's degree in 1957, he taught undergraduate chemistry at

Maharaja Manindra Chandra College Maharaja Manindra Chandra College is an undergraduate college in North Kolkata, India, established in 1941, at 20 Ramkanta Bose Street, Kolkata - 700003. It is affiliated under the University of Calcutta. It shares premises with Maharaja Sri ...

and at

Vidyasagar College Vidyasagar College (Bengali: বিদ্যাসাগর কলেজ) is a state government-aided public college, affiliated to the University of Calcutta, located in North Kolkata, West Bengal, India. The college offers both post-gradu ...

. Joining the research group of noted polymer chemist Sadhan Basu for his doctorate, under Basu's supervision Chakravorty determined the single-crystal spectra of certain complexes of copper, nickel and chromium in polarized visible light and interpreted the spectra in terms of

ligand field theory Ligand field theory (LFT) describes the bonding, orbital arrangement, and other characteristics of coordination complexes. It represents an application of molecular orbital theory to transition metal complexes. A transition metal ion has nine valen ...

. Chakravorty and Basu published their findings in three papers in ''

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...

'' and the ''

Journal of Chemical Physics ''The Journal of Chemical Physics'' is a scientific journal published by the American Institute of Physics that carries research papers on chemical physics. the two communications in ''Nature'' concerned tetragonal copper complexes, while the communication in the ''Journal of Chemical Physics'' discussed the spectra of chromium ''tris''-acetylacetone. The papers formed the basis of Chakravorty's dissertation, for which he received his Ph.D. in 1961. After submitting his dissertation, Chakravorty conducted some independent studies with a fellow classmate, a doctoral candidate in colloid chemistry, resulting in a paper on charge-transfer spectra of gold complexes which was published in the ''Journal of Chemical Physics''. The gold for the research came from broken ornaments donated by his mother.

Career

Offered postdoctoral fellowships by

Geoffrey Wilkinson Sir Geoffrey Wilkinson FRS (14 July 1921 – 26 September 1996) was a Nobel laureate English chemist who pioneered inorganic chemistry and homogeneous transition metal catalysis. Education and early life Wilkinson was born at Springside, Todm ...

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

and by Wilkinson's student F. Albert Cotton at

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...

, Chakravorty joined Cotton's research group in late September 1961, in which he researched solution stability constants and structures of 3D metal complexes of imidazole derivatives. The following year, upon the suggestion of Cotton, he moved to

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

for a second postdoc with Cotton's student Richard H. Holm; as Holm's only postdoc, he worked on stereo-labile nickel complexes. In December 1964, he joined the faculty of the

Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur The Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT Kanpur) Hindi: भारतीय प्रौद्योगिकी संस्थान कानपुर) is a public institute of technology located in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was ...

, where he and his research group studied synthetic and stereochemical problems of new types of complexes, and were soon noted for specializing in redox phenomena and oxidation-state manipulation. Eventually appointed head of chemistry at IIT Kanpur, Chakravorty joined the

Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS) is a public, deemed, research university for higher education and research in basic sciences under the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India, situated at the heart of ...

(IACS) in Kolkata as head of inorganic chemistry in June 1977. Over the following three decades, beginning with

Akhil Ranjan Chakravarty Akhil Ranjan Chakravarty (born 1953) is an Indian organic chemist and a professor at the department of inorganic and physical chemistry at the Indian Institute of Science. He is known for his researches on reactivity and bonding in multicentered ...

, he guided 58 doctoral students, including after his formal retirement from IACS as an emeritus professor in 2000; his last doctoral student submitted his dissertation in 2006. Chakravorty has published over 300 research papers, 20 review articles and several chapters.

Prizes and honours

TWAS Prize This is a list of recipients of the TWAS Prize, awarded annually by The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS). Summary Agricultural Sciences Biology Chemistry Earth Sciences Engineering Sciences Mathematics Medical Sc ...

Honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

, DSc honoris causa,

University of Burdwan The University of Burdwan (also known as Burdwan University or B. U.) is a public university in Purba Bardhaman, West Bengal, India. It was established by the West Bengal Government as a teaching and affiliating university on 15 June 1960 with ...

Indian National Science Academy The Indian National Science Academy (INSA) is a national academy in New Delhi for Indian scientists in all branches of science and technology. In August 2019, Dr. Chandrima Shaha was appointed as the president of Indian National Science Acade ...

Golden Jubilee Research Professorship

References

External links

Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chakravorty, Animesh 1935 births Living people Scottish Church College alumni University of Calcutta alumni University of Calcutta faculty IIT Kanpur faculty Texas A&M University faculty Recipients of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in Engineering Science Fellows of the Indian National Science Academy 20th-century Indian chemists Scientists from Kolkata TWAS laureates People from Mymensingh