Narasinh Narayan Godbole (28 December 1887 – 4 December 1984)Anonymous. (1984)
''Padmabhushan Dr. N. N. Godbole'' (1887 - 1984)
''Chemical Industry News'' 29: 604. was an Indian food chemist and the first Director of Industries & Supplies of Government of

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern s ...

Biography

Godbole was born at

Dharwad Dharwad (), also known as Dharwar, is a city located in the north western part of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of the Dharwad district of Karnataka and forms a contiguous urban area with the city of Hubballi. It was merge ...

. He was educated at

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 ...

and qualified

BSc A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

and MA. He was a professor at

D. J. Sindh Government Science College Dayaram Jethamal Sindh Government Science College, ( sd, ) commonly known as DJ Science College, is a public community college that is affiliated with the University of Karachi — it is located near Burns Road in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. Pre ...

and

Government Dayal Singh College, Lahore Government Dyal Singh Graduate College, Lahore is a college for graduate and post-graduate students affiliated to Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Lahore and University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan. History The college was fo ...

(1911–1919). In 1919, Godbole was invited by

Madan Mohan Malaviya Madan Mohan Malaviya ( (25 December 1861 — 12 November 1946) was an Indian scholar, educational reformer and politician notable for his role in the Indian independence movement. He was president of the Indian National Congress four times and ...

to join the

Banaras Hindu University Banaras Hindu University (BHU) IAST: kāśī hindū viśvavidyālaya IPA: /kaːʃiː hɪnd̪uː ʋɪʃwəʋid̪jaːləj/), is a collegiate, central, and research university located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, and founded in 1916 ...

(BHU) to establish for the first time in India, the Department of Industrial Chemistry. The BHU later expanded into a College of Technology of which Godbole was appointed the first principal. He visited Japan to study industrial development. Godbole spent two years in Germany specialising in the study of fats, oils and soaps. He obtained his PhD from

Berlin University 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 ...

in 1925.''Men of Sciences & Technology in India, Volume 2''. Premier Publishers, 1967. p. 15 Godbole was a lecturer on modern industrial development in Japan at the Universities of Banaras,

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

Mysore Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...

. After retiring from BHU in 1948 he was Director of Industries of Rajasthan (1949–1959). He was known for his research on

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Immune factors and immune-modula ...

products and

Sarasvati River The Sarasvati River () is a deified river first mentioned in the Rigveda and later in Vedic and post-Vedic texts. It played an important role in the Vedic religion, appearing in all but the fourth book of the Rigveda. As a physical river, i ...

. He was awarded the

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

, third highest civilian honour of India by the President of India, in 1965. Godbole invented a new "Home Pasteurizer" for domestic use. He was a member of the

Indian Chemical Society The Indian Chemical Society is a scientific society dedicated in the field of chemistry from India. It was established in 1924 with Prafulla Chandra Ray as its founding president. The same year the society started to publish its "Quarterly Journa ...

Vegetarianism

Godbole was an advocate of lacto-vegetarianism. He authored ''Milk: The Most Perfect Food'', in 1936. A review of the book in the ''

Current Science ''Current Science'' is an English-language peer-reviewed multidisciplinary scientific journal. It was established in 1932 and is published by the Current Science Association along with the Indian Academy of Sciences. According to the ''Journal C ...

'' journal, noted that "this is an excellent treatise, worthy to be in every household. Prof. Godbole has approached his task in a scientific spirit and in the performance of it he displays the commendable zeal of the convinced advocate of the principles he wishes to propagate." A review in the ''

Journal of Dairy Science The American Dairy Science Association (ADSA) is a non-profit professional organization for the advancement of dairy science. ADSA is headquartered in Champaign, Illinois. Consisting of 4500 members, ADSA is involved in research, education, and in ...

'', commented that Godbole "presents the dairy industry of India with special reference to improvement of the Hindu diet through increased consumption of dairy products... The promotion of the vegetarian diet is uppermost in the thoughts of the author which is essential in India for both religious and health reasons." Godbole corresponded with

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

. In a 1937 letter, Gandhi wrote that the book "is good so far as it goes" but was disappointed that it did not examine the methods of using milk.''Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, Volume 65''
Navajivan Trust, 1976.

Death

Godbole died in

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

on 4 December 1984.

Selected publications

''Milk: The Most Perfect Food''
(with a foreword by

, 1936)
''Butter-Fat (Ghee)''
(1939) *''Rig-Vedic Sarasvati'' (1963)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Godbole, Narasinh Narayan 1887 births 1984 deaths 20th-century Indian chemists Indian biochemists 20th-century Indian non-fiction writers Banaras Hindu University faculty Food chemists Food scientists Humboldt University of Berlin alumni Indian food scientists Indian Hindus Indian nutritionists Indian scientific authors Indian vegetarianism activists Marathi people Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in literature & education