Govind Sadashiv Ghurye (12 December 1893 – 28 December 1983) was a pioneering

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

academic who was a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

. In 1924, he became the second person to head the Department of Sociology at the

University of Bombay The University of Mumbai is a collegiate, state-owned, public research university in Mumbai. The University of Mumbai is one of the largest universities in the world. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. Ratan Tata is the appointed ...

. And, is widely regarded as the founder of Indian Sociology & Sociology in India.

Early life

G S Ghurye was born, in a

Saraswat Brahmin The Saraswat Brahmins are Hindu Brahmins, who are spread over widely separated regions spanning from Kashmir in North India to Konkan in West India to Kanara (coastal region of Karnataka) and Kerala in South India. The word ''Saraswat'' is deriv ...

community on 12 December 1893, at Malvan, in present-day

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

. His early schooling was at the Aryan Education Society's High School, Girgaum, in Bombay, and then at Bahadur Khanji High School, Junagadh, in the princely state of Junagadh. He joined Bahauddin college at Junagarh, in 1912, but moved on to

Elphinstone College Elphinstone College is one of the constituent colleges of Dr. Homi Bhabha State University, a state cluster university. Established in 1823, it is one of the oldest colleges in Mumbai. It played a major role in shaping and developing the ed ...

, Bombay, after a year, and received his B. A. (

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

) and M. A. (Sanskrit) degrees from there. He earned the Bhau Daji prize with his B. A., and the Chancellor's gold medal with his M. A. degree. After completing his M. A., Ghurye received a scholarship for further studies in England, and earned his PhD from

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

in 1922. Ghurye was deeply influenced by

W. H. R. Rivers William Halse Rivers Rivers FRS FRAI ( – ) was an English anthropologist, neurologist, ethnologist and psychiatrist known for treatment of First World War officers suffering shell shock, so they could be returned to combat. Rivers' most f ...

, who was his PhD guide., Chapter author:M. N. Srinivas; Chapter author:Dhirendra Narain After Rivers' untimely death in 1922, he completed his thesis under

A. C. Haddon Alfred Cort Haddon, Sc.D., FRS, FRGS FRAI (24 May 1855 – 20 April 1940, Cambridge) was an influential British anthropologist and ethnologist. Initially a biologist, who achieved his most notable fieldwork, with W.H.R. Rivers, C.G. Seligma ...

Personal life

Ghurye was married to Sajubai of Vengurla, a town near Malwan. His son, Sudhish Ghurye is a Mathematician and Statistician, and daughter Kumud G. Ghurye was a barrister.

Career

Ghurye was appointed as Head of the Department of Sociology in

Bombay University The University of Mumbai is a collegiate, state-owned, public research university in Mumbai. The University of Mumbai is one of the largest universities in the world. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. Ratan Tata is the appointed ...

in 1924, and retired in 1959. The department was founded by Patrick Geddes in 1919. However, when Ghurye took it over, it was on the verge of closure. The department came alive once again with Ghurye, and now, Ghurye is regarded as the real founder and "shaped" the study of sociology there from then on. He also founded the Indian Sociological Society and its newsletter, Sociological Bulletin, and served as head for both. He also headed the Bombay Anthropological Society for some years. After retirement, he served as

Professor Emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

for

and at least three

festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

s were produced in his honour, of which two were during his lifetime. He guided a total of 80 research theses and authored 32 books and a number of other papers. Later, at least two theses were written on him. Among his students were personalities like noted social reformer and intellectual Dr. Uttamrao K. Jadhav, A. J. Agarkar, Y. M. Rege, L. N. Chapekar, M. G. Kulkarni,

M. S. A. Rao Madhugiri Shamarao Anathapadmanabha Rao (1926–1985) was a professor of sociology who had been a founder-member in 1959 of the Department of Sociology at the University of Delhi, India. He wrote and edited extensively on subjects such as the ...

Iravati Karve Irawati Karve (15 December 1905 – 11 August 1970) was a pioneering Indian sociologist, anthropologist, educationist and writer from Maharashtra, India. She was one of the students of G. S. Ghurye, G.S. Ghurye, founder of Indian Sociol ...

, C. Rajagopalan, Y. B. Damle, M.N. Srinivas, A. R. Desai, D. Narain, I. P. Desai, M. S. Gore, Suma Chitnis and Victor D'Souza. He also had the opportunity to see the "Dr. G. S. Ghurye Award" being instituted in his honour. His book ''Caste and race in India'' is regarded as a classic in the field.

Publications

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References

Notes # # # Citations Bibliography * * * * *

External links