Dr. C.V. Raman

Dr. C.V. Raman is one of the most well-known scientists of India. His full name was Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman. He was born on November 7, 1888, in Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu. His father's name was Chandrasekhar Iyer and his mother's name was Parvathi Amma. His father was a lecturer in Mathematics and Physics, so he had an educational environment at home. He took admission to Presidency College, Madras, in 1902. In 1904, he completed his graduation, winning first place and the gold medal in Physics. In 1907, he passed his post-graduation obtaining the maximum distinctions.

In those times there were not many opportunities for scientists in India. Therefore, he joined the Indian Finance Department in 1907. After his office hours, he carried out his experimental research in the laboratory of the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science at Calcutta. In 1917, he was given the position of Sir Taraknath Palit Professorship of Physics at Calcutta University. He stayed there for fifteen years. All through his term there, he received Universal appreciation for his effort in optics and scattering of light. He was elected to the Royal Society of London in 1924. In 1929 the British made him a knight of the British Empire. In 1930, he was awarded Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on scattering of light. The discovery was later known as the "Raman Effect".

In 1934, he became the director of the Indian Institute of Sciences in Bangalore, where he taught as a professor of Physics for two years. In 1947, he was selected as the first National Professor by the new government of Independent India. In 1948, he retired from the Institute. After one year, he established the Raman Research Institute in Bangalore, where he worked till his death. On November 21, 1970, he passed away.