Prafulla Chandra Ray was born on 2 August 1861 in a village in the district of Jessore (subsequently of Khulna), now in Bangladesh. He was greatly influenced by his parents. His father Harish Chandra Ray, a scion of a local zamindar, was a man of learning and liberal views. Ray’s mother Bhubanmohini Devi was an accomplished lady of enlightened views.
After his early education at the village school, he came to Calcutta (now Kolkata) in 1870. He passed the entrance examination of the Calcutta University from the Albert School of Keshab Chandra Sen, the founder of the new dispensation order of the BrahmoSamaj. In 1878, Ray joined the Metropolitan Institution (later named as Vidyasagar College) established by PanditIswar Chandra Vidyasagar. It was at the Metropolitan Institution that Ray came under the influence of SurendraNath Banerjee, usually regarded as the father of Indian nationalism. Ray used to attend lectures on chemistry at the Presidency College as an external student. While still a student in the BA class he successfully competed for the Gilchrist Prize, for which knowledge of at least four different languages was essential. This award enabled him to proceed to Edinburgh University, England in 1882. In 1885, Ray obtained his BSc degree and in 1887 he was awarded the DSc degree of Edinburgh University. He was awarded the Hope Prize Scholarship, which enabled him to stay one more year in England. He was elected Vice President of the Chemical Society of Edinburgh University.
After about six years in England, Ray came back to India in 1888. It was not easy for him to secure a teaching assignment. He was without one for about one year. Finally, in July 1889 he joined the Presidency College as Assistant Professor of Chemistry on a temporary basis under the Provincial Educational Service. After retiring from the Presidency College in 1916 he joined the University College of Science, Calcutta University as Palit Professor of Chemistry. He retired from the University College of Science in 1936 but continued as Emeritus Professor of Chemistry until his death.
Ray published about 120 research papers mostly in research journals of repute. Ray conducted a systematic chemical analysis of some rare Indian minerals with the object of discovering in them some of the missing elements in the Mendeleeve’s Periodic Table. He isolated mercurous nitrite in 1896, which brought him international recognition, as the compound was not known till then. Describing this event, Ray wrote in his autobiography: “…the discovery of mercurous nitrite opened a new chapter in my life.” The discovery of mercurous nitrite was an accidental one. Ray wanted to prepare water soluble mercurous nitrate as an intermediate for the synthesis for calomel (mercurous chloride). Ray first published his findings in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal and which was immediately noticed by Nature, the famous international science journal. The discovery of mercurous nitrite led to many significant publications.
Another important contribution made by Ray was the synthesis of ammonium nitrite (NH4NO2) in pure form. Before Ray’s synthesis it was believed that ammonium nitrite undergoes fast thermal decomposition yielding nitrogen (N2) and water (H2O). Ray presented his findings at a meeting of the Chemical Society of London. William Ramsay, the British chemist and the winner of the 1904 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, was greatly impressed by Ray’s findings. Commenting on Ray’s contribution to chemical research Priyadaranjan Ray, a noted Indian chemist and a student of Ray wrote: “One must not, however, lose sight of the important fact that Ray’s real contribution to the development of chemical research in India rests not so much on his personal research publications as on his inspiring and initiating a generation of young workers who, dedicating themselves to a scientific career, succeeded in building up what is now known as the Indian School of Chemistry”.
Ray started the Bengal Chemical and Pharmaceutical Works Ltd (or Bengal Chemical as it is popularly known) in 1892 to create job opportunities for the youth. He was also involved in the management of a large number of industrial and business concerns in the country. He was a staunch patriot. In 1885, while a student of BSc at Edinburgh University, Ray took part in the essay competition announced by the Lord Rector of the Edinburgh University. The title of the essay to be written was, “India before and after the Mutiny.” Ray’s essay was very critical of the British Rule in India. In those days it required a lot of conviction and courage to write such an essay. It demonstrated Ray’s patriotic vigour. A copy of the essay was sent to John Bright, the celebrated Parliamentarian whose sympathetic reply to Ray appeared in almost all the leading newspapers of the United Kingdom under the heading ‘John Bright’s Letter to an Indian Student’. It almost created a stir in political circles in England at that time. Ray was connected with the movement for India’s independence in many ways. He was in regular contact with the top leaders of the Indian National Congress, which was spearheading the freedom struggle. It was Ray who took the initiative to bring Mahatma Gandhi to Kolkata. Ray’s patriotism reflected in his saying: “Science can wait but Swaraj can not.”
Ray was a voracious reader of literature, history, and biography. To quote him: “The prescribed textbooks never satisfied my craving. I was a voracious devourer of books and when I was barely 12 years old, I sometimes used to get up at 3 or 4 o’clock in the morning so that I might pore over the contents of a favourite author without disturbance…History and biography have even now a fascination for me. I read Chamber’s Biography right through several times. The lives of Newton, Galileo—although at that time I did not understand or realise the value of their contributions—interested me much.” Ray could read half-a-dozen languages and wrote extensively on a variety of subjects both in English and Bengali. He was an ardent advocate of the use of the mother tongue as a medium of instruction in schools and colleges. In recognition of his contribution towards the advancement and enrichment of Bengali language, he was elected the General President of the BangiyaSahityaParishad (1931-1934).
Ray wrote a book on zoology titled Simple Zoology in 1893. For writing this book he not only studied many authoritative books on zoology but also visited museums and zoos. It has been reported that he even went to the extent of dissecting a few carcasses with the help of NilratanSarkar, the famous physician. Ray wrote a series of scholarly articles on Shakespeare in the Calcutta Review during 1939-1941. Ray frequently contributed articles to many Bengali periodicals such as Basumati, Bharatbarsha,Bangabani,Banglarbani,Prabashi, AnandabazarPatrika, Manushi, etc. He once claimed that he “…became a chemist almost by mistake.”
Ray wrote The History of Hindu Chemistry in two volumes. The first volume was published in 1902, followed by an enlarged revised edition in 1904. The second volume of the book came out in 1909. An enlarged and revised edition of the book was brought out in 1924. Ray was inspired by the great French chemist Marcellin Pierre Eugene Berthelot in undertaking this monumental work. Ray’s Hindu Chemistry was recognised as a unique contribution to annals of history of chemistry soon after its publication. Berthelot himself wrote a 15-page review in Journal desSavantin its issue of January 1903. Renowned international journals like Nature and Knowledge wrote very highly of the book. Ray wrote his autobiography titled The Life and Experience of a Bengali Chemist in two volumes, which he dedicated to the youth of India. Besides giving his life sketch, it gives glimpses of the intellectual renaissance in Bengal as a part of the larger enlightenment of India in the nineteenth century and the early decades of the twentieth century.
He symbolised the best of Indian tradition and philosophy. He lived a life of extreme self-denial. He was the symbol of plain living. Towards the later part of life, he lived in a single room at the University College of Science, Calcutta University. Its furniture consisted of a bedstead, a small table, a small chair and an almirah with shelves full of books, most of which were English classics. Commenting on Ray, Mahatma Gandhi once said: “It is difficult to believe that the man in simple Indian dress wearing simple manners could be the great scientist and professor.” He gave away most of his earnings to charity. Many poor students used to get regular financial support from him. He left a substantial portion of his earnings to a Trust for supporting poor widows and orphans and for promotion for hand-spinning. Many institutions were beneficiaries of his generosity.
Ray was amongst the pioneers of social reform in the country. He took to social service with a missionary zeal. He deliberated on the prevailing caste systems in the Hindu society. In his Presidential address to the Indian National Social Conference held at Kolkata in 1917, he made a passionate appeal to remove caste systems from Hindu society. He had imbibed the principles of rational thinking in his childhood largely influenced by his father. Several times Ray came to the rescue of his countrymen suffering from famine and flood. On witnessing the elaborate arrangements for relief work undertaken by Ray on one such occasion a reporter of the Manchester Guardian wrote: “If Mr. Gandhi (Mahatma Gandhi) could produce two more P.C. Rays, India could have attained Swaraj within a year.”
- Ray, a relative of P.C. Ray and INSA Fellow wrote in his memoir, “Ray was a teacher all his life, though essentially a student throughout. His only love in life was his books – scientific and classics – and the pupils whom he inspired, some of whom always use to constitute his household and manage his daily affairs of life. His relation with his pupils was ever close and cordial as that between father and sons.
“He was always alert about the economy of time, material and money. Any wastage of chemicals, filter paper, gas, water or electricity in the laboratory by anybody would work him up into a fury. He was equally intolerant of any misuse of time and himself would strictly adhere to a rigid time-table in his everyday life. To him, the waste of time was equivalent to the loss of opportunities for work.”
In 1920, Ray was elected General President of the Indian Science Congress. He helped establish the Indian Chemical Society in 1924 as its Founder President. He was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Chemical Society of London and the Deutsche Akademie of Munich. Ray passed away in his living room in the University College of Science of the Calcutta University surrounded by his students (whom he loved most), friends and admirers. “A more remarkable career than that of P.C. Ray could not well be chronicled”, wrote Nature, the international scientific journal, while commenting on the first volume of Prafulla Chandra Ray’s autobiography.