Sir Raghunath Purushottam Paranjpye (16 February 1876 – 6 May 1966) was the first Indian to achieve the coveted title of

Senior Wrangler The Senior Frog Wrangler is the top mathematics undergraduate at the University of Cambridge in England, a position which has been described as "the greatest intellectual achievement attainable in Britain." Specifically, it is the person who a ...

at the

University of Cambridge , 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 ...

, and became a university administrator and Indian ambassador.

Early life and education

Raghunath Paranjpye was born at Murdi near

Dapoli Dapoli is a town in Ratnagiri district, Maharashtra which is also a coastal hill station. It lies south of the state capital of Mumbai. the town is also known as Camp Dapoli, as the British had set their camps here. Many high-ranking British o ...

in the coastal

Ratnagiri district Ratnagiri District (Marathi pronunciation: �ət̪n̪aːɡiɾiː is a district in the state of Maharashtra, India. The administrative headquarter of the district is located in the town of Ratnagiri. The district is 11.33% urban. The district ...

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 ...

in a

Chitpavan Brahmin The Chitpavan Brahmin or Konkanastha Brahmin is a Hindu Maharashtrian Brahmin community inhabiting Konkan, the coastal region of the state of Maharashtra. Initially working as messengers and spies in the late seventeenth century, the community ...

family. He was educated at Maratha high school,

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

Fergusson College Fergusson College is an autonomous public-private college offering various courses in the streams of arts and science in the city of Pune, India. It was founded in 1885 by the Deccan Education Society. Professor Vaman Shivram Apte was its fir ...

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, 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 ...

and

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 ...

before entering

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...

in 1896. He graduated B.A. as senior Wrangler in 1899. Paranjpye was elected a

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

of St John's College in November 1901 and stayed as such until 1907, but returned to India to become a professor of mathematics at Fergusson College in 1902. One of the earliest Indian documentary film makers,

H. S. Bhatavdekar Harishchandra Sakharam Bhatavdekar (15 March 1868 – 20 February 1958), also known as Save dada, was the first Indian to make a film ( motion picture) in India. Biography H. S. Bhatavdekar was a resident of Mumbai (Bombay). A Maharashtrian por ...

, made silent documentary films, ''Return of Wrangler Paranjpye'' (1902) and ''Delhi Durbar of Lord Curzon'' (1903), featuring R. P.

Career

In 1907, R. P. became the first librarian of the

Indian Mathematical Society Indian Mathematical Society (IMS) is the oldest organization in India devoted to the promotion of study and research in mathematics. The Society was founded in April 1907 by V. Ramaswami Aiyar with its headquarters at Pune. The Society started i ...

at Fergusson College. He became the college's principal, and stayed in that position for two decades, until 1926. Subsequently, he consecutively became the Vice-Chancellor of

and

Lucknow University The University of Lucknow (informally known as Lucknow University, and LU) is a public state university based in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. Founded in 1920, the University of Lucknow is one of the oldest government owned institutions of higher edu ...

. In 1921, 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 ...

awarded him an honorary Doctor of Science degree. Sir Raghunath was elected to the

Bombay Legislative Council Bombay Legislative Council was the legislature of the Bombay Province and later the upper house of the bicameral legislature of Bombay Province in British India and the Indian state of Bombay. History The Indian Councils Act 1861 set up the Bom ...

in 1912 representing the University of Bombay constituency. He was again elected to the enlarged Council as per the

Government of India Act 1919 The Government of India Act 1919 (9 & 10 Geo. 5 c. 101) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was passed to expand participation of Indians in the government of India. The Act embodied the reforms recommended in the report of ...

. As part of

Diarchy in Bombay Presidency Diarchy was established in Bombay Presidency based on the recommendations of the Montague-Chelmsford report. It ended with the election in 1937 when the Government of India Act 1935 came into effect. Government of India Act of 1919 Government of I ...

, Paranjpye was appointed as the first Minister for Education and he served in the position till 1923. He was unable to get elected in the 1923 elections losing to

M. R. Jayakar Mukund Ramrao Jayakar (M.R. Jayakar) (13 November 1873 – 10 March 1959, Bombay) was the first Vice-Chancellor of the University of Poona. He was a lawyer, scholar and politician. He was a prominent freedom fighter. Jayakar was born in a Marat ...

of the

Swaraj Party The Swaraj Party, established as the ''Congress-Khilafat Swaraj Party'', was a political party formed in India on 1 January 1923 after the Gaya annual conference in December 1922 of the National Congress, that sought greater self-government and ...

. Paranjpye received a knighthood from the colonial government in 1942. In the three years (1944–1947) preceding India's independence from the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

, the British government appointed him India's High Commissioner to Australia.Sai Paranjpye at ASHA
In the days of the British Raj, there was some criticism that R. P. had often appeared on the side of British authorities at a time of nationalist ferment in India. He was the founder of the

Indian Rationalist Association The Indian Rationalist Association is a voluntary organisation in India whose 100,000 members Bedi, Rahul." ''The Irish Times.'' 2009-07-13. Retrieved 15 August 2009 promote scientific skepticism and critique supernatural claims. It publishes b ...

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

(then

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

) in 1949, and remained its President for many years. His autobiography, ''84 Not Out'', appeared in 1961.

Acharya Atre Prahlad Keshav Atre () (13 August 1898 – 13 June 1969), popularly known as Āchārya Atre, was a prominent Marathi language, Marathi writer, poet, educationist, founder–editor of ''Maratha'' (a Marathi language newspaper), and above all, a n ...

has devoted one full chapter in his autobiography for Wrangler Paranjpye and has written about his fame all over the country and how because of him students from outside Maharashtra came to study at Ferguson College.

Family

His younger brother, Hari Purushottam Paranjpye was a well known agriculturist of his time. In 1991, the Government of India awarded R. P.'s daughter

Shakuntala Paranjpye Shakuntalā Parānjpye (17 January 1906 – 3 May 2000) was an Indian writer, actress and a prominent social worker. She was a member of Maharashtra Legislative Council during 1958–64, and served as nominated member of, Rajya Sabha (Up ...

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 ...

title in recognition of her work in the field of family planning. She was also a nominated member of the

Rajya Sabha The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...

in the 1960sNOMINATED MEMBERS OF RAJYA SABHA
In 2006, the Government of India awarded R. P.'s granddaughter

Sai Paranjpye Sai or SAI may refer to: Companies * Science Applications Incorporated, original name of Leidos * ICAO designator for Shaheen Air, a Pakistani airline * Skandinavisk Aero Industri, a former Danish aeroplane manufacturer * Software Architects, Inc ...

title in recognition of her artistic talents. She is a film director and a scriptwriter.SAI PARANJPYE, INDIAN FILMMAKER
library, worldbank.

Works

* ''Dhondo Keshav Karve: A Sketch'', Poona, Arya Bhushan Press, 1915. * ''Gopal Krishna Gokhale'', The Aryabhushan Press, 1918. * ''The Crux of the Indian Problem''. Watts, 1931. * ''The National Liberal Federation, Presidential address''. Allahabad, 1939. Vithal Hari Barve, 1939. * ''84 Not Out'', National Book Trust, New Delhi, 1961. * ''Rationalism In Practice: The Kamala Lectures'', Kessinger Publishing, LLC, 2006. .

References

* R.P. Paranjpye, ''84 Not Out'', National Book Trust, New Delhi, 1961. Autobiography. * ''Wrangler Raghunath Purushottam Paranjpye'' by Dr Anant Deshmukh, 2011. Biography. * John Kenneth Galbraith, ''Ambassador's Journal Publisher'', Houghton Mifflin Company (1969) Language: English

External links

* * *
First Indian Wrangler : Raghunath Purushottam Paranjape from Dapoli
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paranjpe, R.P. 1876 births 1966 deaths Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Fellows of St John's College, Cambridge High Commissioners of India to Australia 19th-century Indian mathematicians Senior Wranglers Scientists from Maharashtra University of Mumbai alumni Academic staff of the University of Mumbai Academic staff of the University of Lucknow Knights Bachelor Indian Knights Bachelor Indian atheists Presidents of the Indian Mathematical Society 20th-century Indian mathematicians Members of the Bombay Legislative Council