5. Kamala Sohoni

 

Kamala Sohoni was  the first woman in India to get a Ph.D. in Science . At a time when there was a general opinion that women could not work in the field of research, she was a brave woman who even went on a satyagraha to gain admission to higher education against the negative decision of India's first Nobel laureate, CV Raman. She  gave importance to the research to provide nutrition to the poorest of the poor at low cost. The recognition she  gained led to the opening of higher education and research fields to women. Her field of study was biochemistry

Kamala Bhagwat (later Sohoni) was born in 1911 in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. Her father Narayana Rao and uncle Madhav Rao were chemists. Both of them were full time students of Tata Institute (later Indian Institute of Science). According to family tradition, Kamala also graduated from Bombay University in 1933 with a B.Sc., majoring in Chemistry and minoring in Physics.

Then she applied for a research fellowship at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, according to his father's advice. But at that time the director of that institution was the Nobel laureate C.V. Rama and he  rejected her application  on the sole ground that she was a woman. In a generally male-dominated era, there was a perception that women were not good enough to conduct research. C V Raman was also of the same opinion. But Kamala was not ready to lose like that. She was a close admirer of Gandhiji's style of freedom struggle and held a satyagraha in front of CV Raman's office. Under pressure, he agreed to admit her  to research subject to certain conditions. These were the conditions.

1. Kamala will not be treated as a regular research student, she will be treated as a temporary student in the first year, this information will be communicated to everyone in the campus.

2. She should be ready to work till late night if requested by their guide.

3. She should not in any way cause inconvenience or attract the attention of other male students working in the laboratory.

Although these conditions hurt Kamala's pride, Kamala continued to study there and in 1933 became the first woman to be admitted to the institute. Later Kamala said. "Prof. Raman was a great scientist but he was very narrow minded. I will never forget the way he treated me just because I was a woman. He was not even ready to consider me as a normal student. This hurt me a lot. He had so much contempt for women. What can even a great Nobel laureate do if he behaves like this?” However, a year later several more girls were admitted to the institute.

Professional life and research

Kamala's guide at the institute was Mr. Srinivasaiah. There they conducted research on the protein in milk and legumes. Because  of  Kamala's sincerity and sense of dedication Raman was made to realize that his previous judgments were wrong. Later, many women were admitted to the institute. Kamala graduated from there a year later in 1936 with an M.Sc. degree with distinction.

He was then invited to conduct research at the Frederick G. Hopkins Laboratory under Professor Dr. Derrick Richter at Cambridge University in England. She was a student at Newnham College, where her field of research was biological natural science. After leaving Richter, she  studied plant cells under Professor Dr. Robin Hall. From their studies on potatoes, they discovered that they contain an enzyme called cytochrome C. They established that this is necessary for certain functions in plants. They showed that this enzyme is present in plants and some organisms including humans. In barely 14 months, Kamala completed her thesis of just 40 pages and in an unusual way, she got her Ph.D. Eligible for graduation.

Ph.D. After graduation, she returned to India in 1939. She respected Gandhiji and believed that her  life should be for her  countrymen, that's why she  came back and participated in the freedom struggle. Later, Kamala was appointed as Professor and Head of the Department of Biochemistry at Lady Harding College, Delhi. Later, she worked as an assistant director at the Nutrition Research Institute in Koonur, studying vitamins.

 

In 1947, Kamala M.V. Married Sohoni and moved to Bombay. There she became Professor of Biochemistry at the Royal Institute of Science, where her studies focused mainly on the nutritional value of legumes. Then she was appointed as the director of the institution, although  late because she was a woman. However, during this time, Kamala and her research students conducted detailed studies on the nutritional values ​​of three food items commonly consumed by economically weaker  sections of the people in India.

As per v suggestion from  the then President Rajendra Prasad, he studied the benefits of 'neera', a drink extracted from some palm trees. They found that it contained considerable amounts of vitamins A, C and iron, and proved that these elements were not destroyed even when the juice was converted into jaggery. Later research found that people with a generally poor diet could improve their health if they drank a drink this like soda. She received a special award from the President for this research.

 

Kamala was a frontline fighter for Consumer  Protection. She was an active worker of the Consumer Guidance Society of India (CGSI), an organization established to give direct advice to consumers. She was elected as the president of that organization in 1982-83. She wrote many articles and letters for the organization. The magazine 'Keemat' was also published under her presidency.

In 1998, at a conference organized by the Indian Medical Council in Delhi to honour her, she suddenly collapsed and died soon after.

Reference

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamala_Sohonie