Chintaman Govind Pandit, (25 July 1895 – 7 September 1991) was an Indian

virologist Virology is the scientific study of biological viruses. It is a subfield of microbiology that focuses on their detection, structure, classification and evolution, their methods of infection and exploitation of host cells for reproduction, their ...

, writer and the founder director of the Indian Council of Medical Research. He secured his doctoral degree (PhD) from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

in 1922, worked as the director of

King Institute of Preventive Medicine and Research King Institute of Preventive Medicine and Research is a medicine research institute located in Guindy, Chennai, India. It was established on 7 November 1899 with the aim of protecting against scourging infections and was named after Lt. Col. W. ...

, Chennai, before becoming the founder director of the Indian Council of Medical Research when the institution was established in 1948. After his superannuation in 1964, he was made the Emeritus Scientist of the

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (IAST: ''vaigyanik tathā audyogik anusandhāna pariṣada''), abbreviated as CSIR, was established by the Government of India in September 1942 as an autonomous body that has emerged as the l ...

(CSIR). Pandit, besides writing several medical articles, authored two books, ''Indian Research Fund Association and Indian Council of Medical Research, 1911-1961; fifty years of progress'' and ''Nutrition in India''. He served as the president of the Indian Science Congress of 1991 and was an elected Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy (1939) and a founder Fellow of the National Academy of Medical Sciences (India). In the

1943 Birthday Honours The King's Birthday Honours 1943 were appointments by King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by people of the British Empire. They were published on 2 June 1943 for the United Kingdom and Canada. The re ...

list, Pandit was appointed an Officer of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(OBE). He received the fourth-highest Indian civilian honour, the

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...

, in 1956. The Government of India awarded him the third highest civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan, in 1964, for his contributions to science. After his death on 7 September 1991, the Indian Council of Medical Research instituted a distinguished scientist chair, ''Dr. C. G. Pandit National Chair'', in his honour.

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* Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in medicine 1895 births 1991 deaths Alumni of the University of London Indian medical writers Indian medical researchers Indian Council of Medical Research Council of Scientific and Industrial Research Fellows of the Indian National Science Academy Recipients of the Padma Shri in medicine Officers of the Order of the British Empire Indian virologists 20th-century Indian biologists {{India-scientist-stub