The little boy suffered from a serious illness which made him drop out of school and return to his village home. But he is not very sad about it. For his father’s huge library awaits his return. He loses all sense of time in this room and goes reading; various subjects, various kinds of books. And thus, a foundation is created- a foundation of an extraordinary life.
Growing up, the boy will find his love in alchemy. He would go on to achieve one success after another with a Gilchrist Scholarship, the highest degree in Chemistry, at the Edinburgh University, as well as the 'Hope Prize' for his dissertation.
Even after teaching at Presidency College back home, promoting and spreading the knowledge of chemistry, relentless research and discovery, in spite of intense busyness, he does not lose focus of the one thing that truly haunts his mind - patriotism.
It is from that sense of nationalism that the desire to be self-reliant in industry is born. The result is the historic 'Bengal Chemical Works', built with a capital of only seven hundred rupees. Along with such strides, he also does not lose his extraordinary inventive power. Consequentially, Bengal Chemical's proprietary formula of phenyl, naphthalene balls, 'Aqua Tycotis', and fragrant hair oil 'Cantharidin' soon reaches the homes of ordinary Indians.
The man powered by the love of chemistry and his country alike, who gave a much-needed visibility to India’s home-grown economy, was none other than Acharya Prafulla Chandra Roy, the father of chemistry in India, the first nationalist industrialist.
NABC 2023 is proud and honoured to present its small tribute to such a legendary icon of science and business this year.
