Today is the 100th birthday anniversary of Asima Chatterjee, a renowned Indian chemist, who was the first female Doctorate of Science in India from an Indian University. Google celebrates her 100th birthday with Google Doodle.
Dr Asima Chatterjee was born on September 23, 1917, in Calcutta, in British India. She has various contributions on the research of vinca alkaloids and the development of anti-epileptic and anti-malarial drugs.
She earned her undergraduate degree from Scottish Church College, and later her master’s and doctorate of science from University of Calcutta, all in chemistry.
In 1940, Dr. Asima joined Lady Brabourne College in Calcutta, as the founder and head of the college’s department of chemistry. In 1944, she was appointed as an honorary lecturer in chemistry at University of Calcutta; and later took a role as a reader in the same department, in 1954.
According to Google on its landing page for the Chatterjee doodle: Her researched focused largely on medicinal properties of plants native to India, and contributed to the development of drugs that treated epilepsy and malaria. Dr. Chatterjee’s most noted contribution was her work on vinca alkaloids. Alkaloids are compounds made from plants, often to treat medical ailments. Vinca alkaloids, which come from the Madagascar periwinkle plant, are used today in chemotherapy treatment because they help slow down or stall the multiplying of cancer cells.”
Dr. Asima Chatterjee received many applauses from the Indian government, including some of the highest awards like the Padma Bhushan and an appointment to the upper house of Parliament. In 1975 she became the 1st woman to be appointed as the General President of the Indian Science Congress.
She had one child, a daughter called Julie, with her husband Dr. Baradananda Chatterjee and she died in 2006 at the age of 90. She started a Research Institute and mentored many Indian chemistry scholars.
Today Google Doodle pays homage to her great accomplishments in the world of science.
