imported>Monkbot: Task 18 (cosmetic): eval 13 templates: del empty params (24×); del |url-status= (4×);

2020-12-16T17:50:10Z

Task 18 (cosmetic): eval 13 templates: del empty params (24×); del |url-status= (4×);

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{{short description|Indian paleobotanist}}

{{Infobox person
| name = Savitri Sahni
| image = SavitriSahni1949.png
| alt = A South Asian woman dressed in white silk, with her head covered.
| caption = Savitri Sahni, from a 1949 photograph.
| other_names =
| birth_name = Savitri Suri
| birth_date = 19 September 1902
| birth_place =
| death_date = 26 April 1985
| death_place = Lucknow
| occupation = President of [[Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences]] (1949-1969)
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
| spouse(s) = [[Birbal Sahni]] (m. 1920)
| relatives = [[Ruchi Ram Sahni]] (father-in-law)
}}

'''Savitri Sahni''' (19 September 1902 – 26 April 1985), born '''Savitri Suri''', was president of the [[Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences|Birbal Sahni Institute of Paleosciences]] from 1949 to 1969.

== Early life ==
Savitri Suri was born in 1902, the daughter of Rai Bahadar Sundar Das Suri, a school inspector in [[Lahore]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Chattopadhyay|first=Anjana|url=https://nbtindia.gov.in/writereaddata/freebooks/pdf/Women%20Scientists%20in%20India.pdf|title=Women Scientists in India: Lives, Struggles & Achievements|date=2018|publisher=National Book Trust, India|isbn=978-81-237-8144-0|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Sahni, Birbal (1891-1949)|url=https://palaeobotany.org/index.php/palaeobotanist-biographies/sahni-birbal-1891-1949/|access-date=2020-10-17|website=International Organisation of Palaeobotany|language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Shakti M. Gupta|url=http://archive.org/details/BirbalSahni|title=Birbal Sahni|date=1978|pages=64–67}}</ref> Her father and [[Ruchi Ram Sahni]] were colleagues in Lahore.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Sheikh|first=Majid|date=2018-09-16|title=Harking Back: Old maps tell us stories of past and also a way forward|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1433148|access-date=2020-10-17|website=DAWN.COM|language=en}}</ref>

== Career ==
Sahni joined her botanist husband on collecting trips through the Himalayas and Kashmir. After his sudden death in 1949, she became head of the new Birbal Sahni Institute of Paleosciences at [[Lucknow]],<ref>{{Cite web|title=Mrs. Savitri Sahni|url=https://www.bsip.res.in/bsip_institute_mrs_savitri_sahni.php|access-date=2020-10-17|website=Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences}}</ref> and continued as the Institute's president for twenty years, until 1969.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last=Sharma|first=Chhaya|date=December 1985|title=Madam Savitri Sahni (1902–1985)|url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00173138509431000|journal=Grana|language=en|volume=24|issue=3|pages=137–138|doi=10.1080/00173138509431000|issn=0017-3134}}</ref> She was also first president of the Paleobotanical Society of India.<ref name=":0" /> She was a member of the council of India's [[National Academy of Sciences, India|National Academy of Sciences]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.203392|title=Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences|date=1957|pages=430|via=Internet Archive}}</ref>

Savitri Sahni was awarded the [[Padma Shri]] in 1969, for her services to science.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Johri|first1=Brij Mohan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l-_JCQAAQBAJ&q=Savitri+Sahni+Padma+Shri&pg=PA221|title=History of Biological Science|last2=Bhattacharyya|first2=Bharati|date=2006-06-06|publisher=Allied Publishers|isbn=9798177649825|pages=221|language=en}}</ref>

== Personal life ==
Savitri Suri married paleobotanist [[Birbal Sahni]] in 1920.<ref name=":1" /> His father was Ruchi Ram Sahni.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Burra|first=Neera|date=2019-08-16|title=Birbal Sahni|url=https://ruchiramsahni.wordpress.com/2019/08/16/birbal-sahni/|access-date=2020-10-17|website=Ruchi Ram Sahni|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Sahni, Ruchi Ram, 1863-1948|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/966908405|title=A memoir of pre-partition Punjab : Ruchi Ram Sahni, 1863-1948|others=Burra, Neera, 1951-|year=2017|isbn=978-0-19-947400-4|edition=First|location=New Delhi|oclc=966908405}}</ref> She was widowed when Sahni died in 1949,<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Raman|first1=C. V.|last2=Ranjan|first2=Shri|last3=Iyengar|first3=M. O. P.|last4=Rao|first4=A. R.|last5=Sadasivan|first5=T. S.|date=1949|title=OBITUARY: PROFESSOR BIRBAL SAHNI, M.A., D.Sc., Sc.D., F.R.S. 1891-1949|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24212139|journal=Current Science|volume=18|issue=5|pages=158–165|jstor=24212139|issn=0011-3891}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Chowdhury|first=H. P.|date=26 April 1949|title=Indian Pioneer in Palaeobotany|page=6|work=The Bombay Chronicle|url=https://archive.org/details/dli.granth.13063/page/6/mode/2up?q=Savitri+Sahni|access-date=October 17, 2020|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> and thereafter wore only white silk, a symbol of her widowhood.<ref name=":1" />

Savitri Sahni died in 1985, aged 82 years, at Lucknow.<ref name=":2" /> Her home, designed by American architect [[Walter Burley Griffin]],<ref>[https://digital-libraries.artic.edu/digital/collection/mqc/id/48505/ Birbal and Savitri Sahni Residence], 1937 architectural drawings by Walter Burley Griffin, in the Ryerson and Burnham Archives, Art Institute of Chicago.</ref> became a museum; her estate was left to the Birbal-Savitri Sahni Foundation in Lucknow, to fund the museum, a lecture series, fellowships for researchers, and awards for scientific achievement.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Chandra|first=Anil|date=1990|title=Excerpts from the Will of the Late (Mrs.) Savitri Sahni (1902-1985)|url=https://archive.org/details/memoirsofcalifor171990cali/page/2/mode/2up?q=Savitri+Sahni|journal=Memoirs of the California Academy of Sciences|volume=17|pages=3–4|via=Internet Archive}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==

* [https://bitoapps.in/bsip/ Birbal Sahni Institute of Paleosciences], website.

*
{{Subject bar|portal1=Biography}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sahni, Savitri}}
[[Category:1902 births]]
[[Category:1985 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Lahore]]
[[Category:Indian women scientists]]
[[Category:People from Lucknow]]
[[Category:Paleobotanists]]

Savitri Sahni - Revision history

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