Shankar Purushottam Agharkar (18 November 1884 – 1 September 1960) was an

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 ...

Morphologist. Agharkar obtained his PhD degree (1919) from the

University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...

, Germany. His specialization was in Plant Morphology. He was the Ghosh Professor of Botany (1920–47) at the

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate State university (India), state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered ...

; and Founder Director (1946–60) of Maharashtra Association for the Cultivation of Science. He is one of the leading

botanists This is a list of botanists who have Wikipedia articles, in alphabetical order by surname. The List of botanists by author abbreviation is mostly a list of plant taxonomists because an author receives a standard abbreviation only when that auth ...

of India. He explored biodiversity of Western Ghats where he came across a species of freshwater jellyfish, which was until then only known to be found in Africa. These findings were published in scientific journal Nature in 1912. Dr. Annandale, the Superintendent of the Indian Museum in Kolkata, helped Dr. Agharkar in his further endeavours to collect, preserve and conduct microscopic examinations of animal and plant specimens. The institute ARI, Pune has been named after him.

Early life

He was born in 1884. Since childhood he was fascinated by plants and animals which led him to discover a new species of

jellyfish Jellyfish and sea jellies are the informal common names given to the medusa-phase of certain gelatinous members of the subphylum Medusozoa, a major part of the phylum Cnidaria. Jellyfish are mainly free-swimming marine animals with umbrella- ...

. He was known for his accurate information and detailed observations.

Education

Later C.V.Raman recommended him for the Ghosh professorship at Calcutta (now known as Kolkata). He went to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

to obtain the PhD degree from the

in 1919 but was imprisoned as the

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

broke out. However he completed his PhD in jail and returned to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Awards and honours

*Maharashtra Association for the Cultivation of Science Research Institute, was renamed in 1992 as the

Agharkar Research Institute The Agharkar Research Institute (ARI) is located in Pune, Maharashtra, India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and ...

(ARI) in honour the Founder Director. *Professor Albert Seward Memorial Lectureship by

Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany The Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences (formerly, Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany; BSIP) is an autonomous institute constituted under the Department of Science and Technology (India), Department of Science and Technology, Government ...

– 1955 *Member of Indian Botanical Society (President) - 1923 *President, Botany Section of

Indian Science Congress Indian Science Congress Association(ISCA) is a premier scientific organisation of India with headquarters at Kolkata, West Bengal. The association started in the year 1914 in Kolkata and it meets annually in the first week of January. It has a ...

- 1924 *Indian Science Congress Medal of Asiatic Society - 1934 *Member of Indian Society of Soil Science (Honorary Secretary) - 1935-1940 *President of Botanical Society of Bengal - 1940-1945 *President of Indian Ecological Society - 1940-1945 *Secretary of

Asiatic Society The Asiatic Society is a government of India organisation founded during the Company rule in India to enhance and further the cause of "Oriental research", in this case, research into India and the surrounding regions. It was founded by the p ...

- 1943-1945 *Vice President of Asiatic Society - 1945-1946 *President of Brihan Maharashtra Parishad- 1943

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Agharkar, Shankar Purushottam 1884 births 19th-century Indian botanists 1960 deaths Humboldt University of Berlin alumni Academic staff of the University of Calcutta 20th-century Indian botanists People from Sindhudurg district Marathi people Scientists from Maharashtra Expatriates from British India in Germany

Early life

Education

Awards and honours

See also

References