Panchanan Maheswari, FRS (9 November 1904 – 18 May 1966 in

Jaipur Jaipur (; , ) is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the List of cities and towns in Rajasthan, largest city of the north-western States and union territories of India, Indian state of Rajasthan. , the city had ...

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

) was a prominent Indian

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

noted chiefly for his invention of the technique of test-tube fertilization of

angiosperm Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed within a fruit ...

s. This invention has allowed the creation of new hybrid plants that could not previously be crossbred naturally. He also emphasised the need for initiation of work on artificial culture of immature embryos. He is also known as father of Indian plant embryology also wrote a book - ''An Introduction to Embryology of Angiosperms''. He encouraged general education and made a significant contribution to school education by his leadership in bringing out the very first textbooks of Biology for Higher Secondary Schools published by

NCERT National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) () is an autonomous organisation of Ministry of Education, the Government of India. Established in 1961, it is a literary, scientific and charitable Society under the Societies Re ...

in 1964.

Education

Maheshwari was born at

and educated at Ewing Christian College in

Allahabad Prayagraj (, ; ISO 15919, ISO: ), formerly and colloquially known as Allahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi, Varanasi (Benar ...

, intending to pursue a career in medicine. At Ewing, Maheshwari came under the mentorship of Winfield Dudgeon, and changed his studies from medicine to science. He received is

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

(1925),

Master of Science A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...

(1931), and

Doctor of Science A Doctor of Science (; most commonly abbreviated DSc or ScD) is a science doctorate awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. Africa Algeria and Morocco In Algeria, Morocco, Libya and Tunisia, all universities accredited by the s ...

(1931) degrees, all under Dudgeon's influence. Maheshwari was an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

Career

In addition to his research achievements, Maheshwari was an educator and publisher. He taught Botany at the

University of Delhi The Delhi University (DU, ISO 15919, ISO: ), also and officially known as the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate research university, research Central university (India), central university located in Delhi, India. It ...

, establishing that department as a globally important center of research in

embryology Embryology (from Ancient Greek, Greek ἔμβρυον, ''embryon'', "the unborn, embryo"; and -λογία, ''-logy, -logia'') is the branch of animal biology that studies the Prenatal development (biology), prenatal development of gametes (sex ...

and

tissue culture Tissue culture is the growth of tissue (biology), tissues or cell (biology), cells in an artificial medium separate from the parent organism. This technique is also called micropropagation. This is typically facilitated via use of a liquid, semi-s ...

. Maheshwari founded the scientific journal '' Phytomorphology (Plant Morphology)'', for which he served as chief editor until his death in 1966; and the more popular magazine '' Botanica''. He also published texts to improve the standard of teaching life sciences in the schools. In 1951, he founded the International Society of Plant Morphologists. He was a founding charter member of the World Academy of Art and Science, an international non-governmental organization founded in 1960 to address the major concerns of humanity.

Awards and honours

Panchanan Maheshwari was a scientific citizen of the world and many academies felt honoured to make him a Foundation Fellow. In 1934 he became a fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences,

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

. The Indian Botanical Society honoured him with the Birbal Sahni Medal in 1958. He was the General President-elect of the Indian Science Congress Association for 1968, a role he could not fulfil on account of his untimely death on 18 May 1966. It was typical of him that he did not disclose this even to his family members, who learned it later only through newspapers. Many of his well wishers and students honoured him by naming their new findings after him, such as '' Panchanania jaipurensis'' (fungus) and '' Isoetes panchananii''. Maheshwari was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

(FRS) in 1965, he was second Indian Botanist to receive this accolade.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maheswari, Panchanan 20th-century Indian botanists Fellows of the Royal Society 1904 births 1966 deaths Indian atheists Fellows of the Indian National Science Academy Fellows of the Indian Academy of Sciences Fellows of the National Academy of Sciences, India Scientists from Jaipur Place of death missing