Rai Bahadur Sir Upendranath Brahmachari ; 19 December 1873 – 6 February 1946) was a prominent Indian
physician
A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...
and
scientist
A scientist is a person who Scientific method, researches to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences.
In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engag ...
. In 1922, he synthesised
urea
Urea, also called carbamide (because it is a diamide of carbonic acid), is an organic compound with chemical formula . This amide has two Amine, amino groups (–) joined by a carbonyl functional group (–C(=O)–). It is thus the simplest am ...
-stibamine (carbostibamide) and demonstrated its effectiveness in treating
kala-azar (visceral leishmaniasis).
Early life
Brahmachari was born on 19 December 1873 in Sardanga village near Purbasthali, District Burdwan, West Bengal, India. His father, Nilmony Brahmachari, was a physician in East Indian Railways and his mother was Saurabh Sundari Devi. He completed his early education from Eastern Railways Boys' High School in
Jamalpur, Bihar
Jamalpur is a city in the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Bihar. It is situated 9 km from the Munger city centre. Jamalpur is a part of Munger-Jamalpur twin cities. It is main railhead for reaching Munger city.
Jama ...
. In 1893, he earned a BA degree from
Hooghly Mohsin College with honours in Mathematics and Chemistry. Following this, Brahmachari pursued further studies in Medicine and Higher Chemistry. In 1894, he obtained a master's degree from
Presidency College, Kolkata. In 1898, he married Nani Bala Devi.
In the 1900 M.B. Examination of 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 ...
, Brahmachari excelled – first in Medicine and then in Surgery – for which he received the Goodeve and Macleod awards. He earned an MD degree in 1902 and a PhD in 1904 for his research paper on "Studies in Haemolysis", both from 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 ...
.
Life and career
In 1922, Brahmachari discovered a new form of
leishmaniasis
Leishmaniasis is a wide array of clinical manifestations caused by protozoal parasites of the Trypanosomatida genus ''Leishmania''. It is generally spread through the bite of Phlebotominae, phlebotomine Sandfly, sandflies, ''Phlebotomus'' an ...
, which he called dermal leishmanoid. The condition was marked by the appearance of sudden eruptions on the patients’ faces without fever or other symptoms. Brahmachari observed it in partially cured cases of kala-azar as well as in individuals who had no prior history of the disease at all. It has since been termed as
post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis.
Awards and honours

Brahmachari was awarded the title of
Rai Bahadur and the
Kaisar-i-Hind Gold Medal, 1st Class, by the Governor General Lord Lytton (1924). In 1934, he was conferred a
knighthood by the British Government.
Brahmachari was a nominee for the Nobel Prize twice in 1929 and five times in 1942 in the category of physiology or medicine although he never received it. Some sources suggest that his ethnicity may have influenced the Nobel committee's decision. He served as president of the 23rd session of the
Indian Science Congress in Indore (1936) and was also president of the Indian Chemical Society in Calcutta (1936). Brahmachari was honoured with fellowships from the Royal Society of Medicine, London, and the Indian National Science Academy. He was the President of the Asiatic Society of Bengal for two years (1928–29)
and also the vice-chairman of the board of Trustees of the Indian Museum.
A 6 storey UNB building named after him has been established at
Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College and Hospital that houses the Emergency, Medicine, Cardiology and Radiology departments.
Important works

Dr. Brahmachari had over 144 Scientific Publications and had written several books, a partial list of which include:
# Studies in Haemolysis, Calcutta University, 1909.
#
Kala-Azar : Its treatment, Butterworth & Co. Ltd. Calcutta 1917.
# Kala-Azar in Doctor Carl Mense's Handbuch der Tropenkranahaiten, vol. IV, 1926.
# Treatise on Kala-Azar, John Bale, Son's & Danielsson Ltd., London, 1928.
# Campaign against Kala-Azar in India, Jubilee Publication on the 80th birthday of Dr. Prof. Bernhard Nocht, Hamburg, clique aqui 1937.
# Progress of Medical Research work in India during the last 25 years, and progress of Science in India, during the past 25 years, Indian Science Congress Association 1938.
# Gleanings from my Researchers Vol. I, Calcutta University 1940
# Gleanings from my Researchers Vol. II Calcutta University 1941
# Infantile Biliary Cirrhosis in India in British Encyclopedia of Medical practice. Edited by Sir Humphrey Rolleston
Notes
References
# ''Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Indian National Science Academy'' Vol. 4., Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi, 1976.
# ''Dictionary of Medical Biography'' Vol. 1 A-B, Edited by W. F. Bynum and Helen Bynum, Greenwood Press, 2006
External links
Profile in ''Dream 2047''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brahmachari, Upendranath
1873 births
1946 deaths
Presidency University, Kolkata alumni
Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata
19th-century Indian medical doctors
Indian Knights Bachelor
Medical doctors from Kolkata
University of Calcutta alumni
Academic staff of the University of Calcutta
Bengali Hindus
People from British India
Fellows of the Indian National Science Academy
Presidents of The Asiatic Society
20th-century Indian medical doctors
Academic staff of Dhaka Medical College and Hospital
Hooghly Mohsin College alumni
Medical doctors from British India
Scientists from British India