Prafulla Chandra Ray is regarded as the “father of Indian chemistry”. His overarching presence shaped the study of science in early modern India. He was a brilliant researcher, a teacher, an entrepreneur and a firm believer in India’s freedom from colonial rule.
He was born in a zamindar family in Raruli-Katipara, a village that was in Jessore then, a district of Bangladesh now. His father had a large library at home. As a child, after an illness that left him with poor health all his life, Ray spent long hours at his father’s library. This left a profound influence on his mind, opening it up to the ideas of the world.