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Rai Bahadur Sir Upendranath Brahmachari ; 19 December 1873 – 6 February 1946) was a prominent Indian
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.
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
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
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 inJamalpur, 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 ofleishmaniasis
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, 2006External 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