Radhakamal Mukerjee (7 December 1889 – 24 August 1968) was an Indian

social scientist Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among members within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the ...

who was Professor of

Economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

and

Sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lucknow. Mukerjee played an important and constructive role in the

Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events in South Asia with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British colonial rule. It lasted until 1947, when the Indian Independence Act 1947 was passed. The first nationalistic ...

. He was a 1962 recipient of the third highest Indian civilian honour of the

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan (IAST: ''Padma Bhūṣaṇa'', lit. 'Lotus Decoration') is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 Januar ...

Early life and education

Mukerjee was the son of a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

in Baharampur,

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

, a city located some 185 km north of

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

. He grew up in a household with a scholarly focus and a library devoted to

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

, the

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

and

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

texts. After attending Krishnanagar College, he gained an academic scholarship to Presidency College, under the

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...

. He earned his PhD in 1920 from University of Calcutta. He earned his honours degrees in English and

History History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

Academic career

He was Professor in the Department of Economics and Sociology at Lucknow University from 1921 to 1952. Mukerjee emphasized interdisciplinary disciplinary approach towards the understanding of life. Mukerjee sought to break the barriers between physical sciences and sciences relating to persons aspects. Mukerjee was a pioneer of Sociology in the 1900s. He authored ''The Institutional Theory of Economics''. Mukherjees theory of society sought to explain the values of civilization. In sense, Radhakamal was a pioneer of transdisciplinary approach in science. Mukerjee opened the discourse of the Ashtavakra Gita into English with his

posthumous Posthumous may refer to: * Posthumous award, an award, prize or medal granted after the recipient's death * Posthumous publication, publishing of creative work after the author's death * Posthumous (album), ''Posthumous'' (album), by Warne Marsh, 1 ...

work published in 1971.Radhakamal Mukerjee (1971). ''The song of the self supreme (Aṣṭāvakragītā): the classical text of Ātmādvaita by Aṣṭāvakra.'' Motilal Banarsidass Publ. , . Source

(accessed: Friday 19 March 2010)

Notes

References

* Radhakamal Mukerjee, ''India: The Dawn of a New Era: An Autobiography'' Radha Publ. (1997) *
Radhakamal Mukerjee
at

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1889 births 1968 deaths Bengali people People from Murshidabad district Presidency University, Kolkata alumni 20th-century Indian economists 20th-century Indian philosophers Indian sociologists University of Calcutta alumni Academic staff of the University of Lucknow Philosophers of history 20th-century Indian historians Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in science & engineering Scholars from West Bengal {{India-academic-bio-stub