14 Facts About Mahendralal Sarkar

Mahendralal Sarkar CIE was a Bengali medical doctor, the second MD graduated from the Calcutta Medical College, social reformer, and propagator of scientific studies in nineteenth-century India.

Mahendralal Sarkar was the founder of the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science.

Mahendralal Sarkar was born at Paikpara village in Howrah district, near Kolkata in the Bengal Province of British India.

Mahendralal Sarkar lost his father when he was five years old and his mother when he was nine years old.

Mahendralal Sarkar was brought up by his maternal uncles, Iswar Chandra Ghosh and Mahesh Chandra Ghosh in their house at Nebutala in Calcutta.

Mahendralal Sarkar had a brilliant career at that college, where, besides winning several scholarships, he passed the final examination in 1860 with the highest honours in medicine, surgery and midwifery.

Mahendralal Sarkar was influenced by reading William Morgan's The Philosophy of Homeopathy, and by interaction with Rajendralal Dutt, a leading homoeopathic practitioner of Calcutta.

Mahendralal Sarkar started a campaign with the motto of reconstructing colonial India in 1867 for a national science association.

Mahendralal Sarkar planned for an association that would be funded, run, and managed by native Indians, with the aim of turning out a pool of scientists for national reconstruction.

The Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science was established in 1876, and Sarkar was its first secretary.

Mahendralal Sarkar supported women's education in nineteenth-century India, when higher education among women was rare.

Mahendralal Sarkar arranged for Sarala Devi Chaudhurani's attendance in the evening lectures at IACS, so that she could pursue higher studies in physics.

Mahendralal Sarkar was a fellow of Calcutta University and an honorary magistrate and Sheriff of Calcutta.

Mahendralal Sarkar was made a CIE in 1883 and honoured with an honorary doctorate degree by University of Calcutta in 1898.