Purabi Roy ( ''

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

'' Mukherjee; bn, পূরবী রায়; born 12 July 1941) is an Indian multi-disciplinary researcher, author, and an eminent scholar in Russian language and history. She has been visiting professor at Moscow State University and

Saint Petersburg State University Saint Petersburg State University (SPBU; russian: Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет) is a public research university in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in 1724 by a decree of Peter the G ...

in Russian Federation from 2000 to 2006. She is acknowledged as one of the foremost and veteran researchers on

Subhas Chandra Bose Subhas Chandra Bose ( ; 23 January 1897 – 18 August 1945 * * * * * * * * *) was an Indian nationalist whose defiance of British authority in India made him a hero among Indians, but his wartime alliances with Nazi Germany and Imperia ...

and a former member of

Indian Council of Historical Research The Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) is a captive body of the Ministry of Education, Government of India established by an Administrative Order. The body has provided financial assistance to historians and scholars through fellowshi ...

(2015 to 2018).

Family background and education

Purabi Roy was born to Peary Mohan Mukherjee and Radha Rani Mukherjee on 12 July 1941 in Calcutta, India. Her father Peary Mukherjee was the President of

Calcutta Club Calcutta Club ( bn, কলকাতা ক্লাব) is an elite social club located on Lower Circular Road in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta), India. It was established in 1907 and the first president of the club was the Maharajah of Cooch Behar ...

in 1955 and was also a member of the Central Board of Directors, RBI, Eastern area from 1953 to 1955 along with B.M.Birla, O.T.Jenkins, Jiban Krishna Mitter and Dr. Bimala Churn Law. She received her education at St. John's Diocesan Girls' Higher Secondary School and graduating from Scottish Church College in 1962 under the University of Calcutta she then completed her MA from Jadavpur University in 1964 and Ph.D. in Philology at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences in 1974 before being taught at Jadavpur University.

Academic career

In 1995, Asiatic Society sent a three-member team led by Purabi Roy along with

Hari Vasudevan Hari Shankar Vasudevan (15 February 1952 10 May 2020) was an Indian historian, writer and emeritus professor. His work was primarily focused on history of Europe and India–Russia relations besides his contribution to the history of Russian ...

and professor Sobhanlal Datta Gupta to Moscow for the collection of documents on Indo-Soviet relations from the period 1917 to 1947 as a protocol signed between the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences and The Asiatic Society. As a team member, Purabi Roy worked in the (GARF) or State Archive of the Russian Federation, (RGVIA) or Russian State Military Historical Archive and in the (MID) or the Archives of the Ministry of External Affairs. On her return, Roy joined The Asiatic Society as a research professor and the first volume of the checklist on Indo-Soviet relations was published by The Asiatic Society in 1997 under the title ''Indo-Russian Relations: 1917-1947. Checklist of Documents. Vol. I''. A specialist of Russian language and politics, Professor Roy participated in various International seminars and conferences. Dr. Roy presented papers at the Institute of Oriental Studies Moscow in 1999, Oriental Faculty of

in 2002,

Hamburg University The University of Hamburg (german: link=no, Universität Hamburg, also referred to as UHH) is a public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('' Allgemeines Vor ...

of Germany in 2003 and Lund University of Sweden in 2004. In 2012 Purabi Roy delivered her lecture at Humboldt University of Berlin on ''New findings on

'' based on her research material collected from Russian, German, British and Indian archives.

Research on Subhas Chandra Bose

Till the beginning of the year 2023, there are many debatable versions of

's disappearance in 1945: '' I) Plane crash in Taiwan '' '' II) Ashes in

Renkō-ji is a Buddhism, Buddhist temple in Tokyo, Japan. It is assumed to be the purported location of the ashes of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Indian revolutionary, which have been preserved since September 18, 1945. The small, well-preserved temple w ...

temple '' '' III) Gumnami Baba '' But one of the versions, according to Russian state media Russia Beyond, attracts special attention which is "Soviet" version by Dr. Purabi Roy. It claimed Subhas Chandra Bose's existence in the Soviet Union in 1945. In the case of Bose's disappearance, Professor Roy claimed Bose was alive in Soviet Russia in 1950s. Though the most important file (File no. 12(226)/56-PM) on

after 1945, according to news report of Business Insider, had been destroyed in 1972. Sugata Bose argued and goes with the air crash theory. Chandra Kumar Bose, the grand nephew of

claimed that the mystery surrounding Bose's disappearance was yet to be resolved. A group of people claimed that

Gumnami Baba Bhagwanji, also known as Gumnami Baba( ভগবানজী (), was an ascetic who had lived approximately last thirty years of his life in various parts of Uttar Pradesh, a state in Northern India. His most remarkable trait was his undying comm ...

was

, rejected by

's grand nephew Sugata Bose and Chandra Kumar Bose. According to Dr. Purabi Roy, '' every account of history should undergo clinical and unbiased scrutiny ''.

Bibliography

Purabi Roy's recent works on

Indian National Army The Indian National Army (INA; ''Azad Hind Fauj'' ; 'Free Indian Army') was a collaborationist armed force formed by Indian collaborators and Imperial Japan on 1 September 1942 in Southeast Asia during World War II. Its aim was to secure In ...

published by The Asiatic Society on the eve of the 75th Anniversary of Indian Independence is ''75th Anniversary of Indian National Army and Provisional Government'' (2021). She has also authored ''Indian National Army'' (2021) with Dr. Sarabindu Mukherjee.

Personal life

Purabi Roy was married to

AITUC The All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) is the oldest trade union federation in India. It is associated with the Communist Party of India. According to provisional statistics from the Ministry of Labour, AITUC had a membership of 14.2 milli ...

leader and Rajya Sabha MP

Kalyan Roy Kalyan Roy, also credited as Kalyan Shankar Roy ( bn, কল্যাণ রায়; 27 December 1929 - 31 January 1985) was an Indian politician and a leader of Communist Party of India and also a leader of All India Trade Union Congress. ...

References

External links

*
Purabi Roy, WorldCat catalogue
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roy, Purabi Living people 1941 births University of Calcutta alumni Indian academics Bengali Hindus Bengali writers 21st-century Bengalis Indian scholars 21st-century Indian scholars Scholars from Kolkata Indian writers 21st-century Indian non-fiction writers Indian non-fiction writers 20th-century Indian writers