Great Personalities of West Bengal - 3 | WBCS Preparation: All Subjects - WBCS (West Bengal) PDF Download

Political Personalities of West Bengal 

• Bidhan Chandra Roy Bidhan Chandra Roy, born on July 1, 1882, in Bankipore, Patna, Bihar, entered politics in 1925 and became the second Chief Minister of West Bengal in 1948. A respected physician and freedom fighter, he is credited with founding five significant cities in the state. Awarded the Bharat Ratna on February 4, 1961, he remained in office until his passing on July 1, 1962.
• Jyoti Basu
  Jyoti Basu, born on July 8, 1914, in Kolkata, served as the Chief Minister of West Bengal from 1977 to 2000 as a member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). Under his leadership, land reforms and the Panchayati Raj System were introduced, and he played a crucial role in the socio-economic development of West Bengal. He passed away on January 17, 2010.
• Pranab Mukherjee
  Pranab Mukherjee, born on December 11, 1935, in Mirati, Birbhum, became a prominent political figure, serving in various government positions, and ultimately becoming the 13th President of India on July 25, 2012. A respected leader, he received the 'Best Administrator in India' award in 2011 and was the first Bengali to hold the position of President. He passed away in 2020.
  
• Somnath Chatterjee
  Somnath Chatterjee, born on July 25, 1929, was associated with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) from 1973 to 2008. He served as the Speaker of Lok Sabha from 2004 to 2009 and was expelled from the party in 2008 for disregarding party instructions. Retiring from active politics in 2009, he passed away on August 13, 2018.
• Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee
  Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, born on March 1, 1944, in Kolkata, was the Chief Minister of West Bengal from 2000 to 2011. Under his leadership, Bengal's economy was liberalized, attracting foreign investment and fostering the growth of new industries. He served as the MLA of Jadavpur Constituency for 24 years until May 13, 2011.
  
• Mamata Banerjee
  Mamata Banerjee, born on January 5, 1955, in Kolkata, is an Indian politician who founded the All India Trinamool Congress (AITMC) in 1998. Serving as the 8th Chief Minister of West Bengal since 2011, she is popularly known as "Didi" and has held various ministerial positions in the Indian government.
  

Personalities Associated with the Field of Science and Education 

• Jagadish Chandra Bose
  Jagadish Chandra Bose, born on November 30, 1858, in Bikrampur, made significant contributions to radio and microwave optics, plant science, and experimental science in the Indian subcontinent. He invented the crescograph and founded the Bose Research Institute in Kolkata. He passed away on November 23, 1937.
• Prafulla Chandra Ray
  Prafulla Chandra Ray, born on 2nd August, 1861 in Khulna district (now in Bangladesh), was a Bengali chemist, educator, and entrepreneur. The Royal Society of Chemistry recognized his contributions, and he founded Bengal Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals, India’s first pharmaceutical company. In 1908, he received an honorary Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Calcutta. Additionally, he was awarded honorary DSc degrees from Durham University in 1912 and Dacca University in 1936. Prafulla Chandra Ray was made a Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire in 1911 and served as the President of the Indian Science Congress in 1920. He passed away on 16th June, 1944.
• Ashutosh Mukherjee
  Ashutosh Mukherjee, born on 29th June, 1864 in Kolkata, is a pivotal figure in Indian education. Raised in an environment of science and literature, he earned dual degrees from Calcutta University in MA Mathematics (1885) and MSc Physics (1886). In the same year, he received the Premchand Roychand Scholarship. Mukherjee became a Doctor of Law in 1894, served as the Tagore Law Professor in 1898, and became a judge of the Calcutta High Court in 1904. He retired in 1923, having officiated as Chief Justice of Bengal in 1920. Knighted in 1911 for his educational contributions, Ashutosh Mukherjee passed away on 25th May, 1924.
• Upendranath Brahmachari
  Upendranath Brahmachari, born on 19th December, 1873 in Bardhaman district of West Bengal, was an Indian scientist and renowned medical practitioner. In 1922, he synthesized Urea Stibamine, finding it to be an effective substitute for other antimony-containing compounds in treating Kala-azar (Visceral Leishmaniasis) caused by the protozoan Leishmania Donovani. He passed away on 6th February, 1946.
• Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis
  Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis, born on 29th June, 1893 in Kolkata, was a scientist and applied statistician known for the Mahalanobis distance. In 1931, he founded the Indian Statistical Institute and contributed to large-scale sample survey design. Mahalanobis was a member of the first Planning Commission of independent India, and in 1959, the institute was declared an institute of national importance and a deemed university. He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 1968, and his birthday, 29th June, was declared National Statistics Day by the Government of India in 2006. He passed away on 28th June, 1972. 
• Meghnad Saha
  Meghnad Saha, born on 6th October, 1893 in Dhaka (now in Bangladesh), was an Indian astrophysicist renowned for developing the Saha equation, describing chemical and physical conditions in stars. He served as a professor at Allahabad University from 1923 to 1938 and later as a professor and Dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of Calcutta. Meghnad Saha passed away on 16th February, 1956.
• Satyendra Nath Bose
  Satyendra Nath Bose, born on 1st January, 1894 in Kolkata, was a Bengali-Indian physicist specializing in mathematical physics. Best known for his work on quantum mechanics in the early 1920s, Bose laid the foundation for Bose-Einstein statistics and the theory of the Bose-Einstein condensate. He established laboratories and libraries, making the department a center for research in various fields. He published an equation of state for real gases with Meghnad Saha and served as the Dean of the Faculty of Science at Dhaka University until 1945. Satyendra Nath Bose passed away on 4th February, 1974.