2.92.124.217 at 22:43, 28 August 2021

2021-08-28T22:43:17Z

New page

{{Distinguish|Subhash Mukhopadhyay (poet)}}
{{Short description|Indian physician (1931–1981)}}
{{POV check|date=September 2015}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2013}}
{{Infobox physician 
| name = Subhash Mukhopadhyay
|image = Scientist Subhas Mukhopadhyay.jpg
|caption = Scientist Dr. Subhas Mukhopadhyay
|birth_name= সুভাষ মুখোপাধ্যায়
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1931|1|16|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Hazaribagh]], [[British India]] (now in [[Jharkhand]], India)
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1981|6|19|1931|1|16|df=yes}}
| death_cause = Suicide
| occupation = [[Physician]]
| nationality = [[India]]n
|known_for = [[In vitro fertilisation]]
|work_institution=[[Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College and Hospital|NRS Medical College, Kolkata]]
|education = [[University of Calcutta]]
|field = [[Gynaecology]]
|research_field= [[Assisted reproductive technology]]<br />[[In vitro fertilisation|IVF]]<br />[[Reproductive endocrinology and infertility|Reproductive Endocrinology]]
}}

'''Subhash Mukhopadhyay''' (16 January 1931 – 19 June 1981) was an [[Indian people|Indian]] [[scientist]], [[physician]] from [[Hazaribagh]], [[Bihar and Orissa Province]], [[British Raj|British India]] (now in [[Jharkhand]], [[India]]), who created the world's second and India's first child using [[in-vitro fertilisation]]. Kanupriya Agarwal (Durga), who was born in 1978, just 67 days after the first IVF baby in [[United Kingdom]].<ref>[http://blogs.sciencemag.org/sciencecareers/2011/01/the-award-of-th.html Is an "Indian Crab Syndrome" Impeding Indian Science?] ''sciencemag.org''. Retrieved 20 August 2013</ref> Afterwards, Dr. Subhash Mukhopadhyay was harassed by the then West Bengal state government and Indian Government and not allowed to share his achievements with the international scientific community. Dejected, he committed [[suicide]] on 19 June 1981.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://topnews.co.uk/214212-ivf-pioneer-wins-nobel-prize-medicine | title=IVF Pioneer Wins Nobel Prize in Medicine | work=TopNews.co.uk | date=10 May 2010 | access-date=4 March 2012}}</ref><ref>[https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/beautiful-mind/articleshow/4650860.cms "Beautiful Mind: The story of Dr. Subhas Mukherjee creator of India's first test-tube baby - Times of India"]</ref>

His life and death has been the subject of countless newspaper reviews and inspired the [[Hindi]] movie ''[[Ek Doctor Ki Maut]]'' (Death of a physician), directed by [[Tapan Sinha]].<ref name=sify/>

==Early life==
He was born to a [[Bengalis|Bengali]] [[Brahmin]] family on 16 January 1931 in [[Hazaribagh]], [[Bihar and Orissa Province]] (now in [[Jharkhand]]), India. He studied B.Sc (Hons.) in Physiology (1949) from [[University of Calcutta]] . He then studied [[Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery|MBBS]] (1955) from the [[Calcutta National Medical College]], which was then affiliated with the [[University of Calcutta]].<ref>[http://www.drsubhasmukherjee.com/doctor_subhas_mukherjee_life.html Site on Dr Mukherjee]</ref> He later earned a [[Ph.D.]] (1958) from the [[Rajabazar Science College]] campus of [[University of Calcutta]] in 'Reproductive Physiology' under the stewardship of Prof. Sachchidananda Banerjee. Later he earned his second [[Ph.D.]] from the [[University of Edinburgh]] in 1967 in 'Reproductive Endocrinology'.

==Career==
From 1967 to 1975 he worked as a Lecturer, Reader and Professor of Physiology at [[Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College and Hospital|NRS Medical College, Kolkata]].

He created history when working with Sunit Mukherji, a Cryobiologist and Gynecologist Dr. Saroj Kanti Bhattacharya. He became the first physician in India (and second in the world after British physicians [[Patrick Steptoe]] and [[Robert Geoffrey Edwards|Robert Edwards]]) to perform the [[in vitro fertilisation]] resulting in a test tube baby "Durga" (alias Kanupriya Agarwal) on 3 October 1978.<ref>[https://books.google.co.nz/books?id=Bik2nThZSYoC&pg=PA159&dq=%22k+s+jayaraman%22+%22new+scientist%22+1978&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCQQ6AEwAGoVChMI5qLTnKeLyAIVhxWmCh2I_gsf#v=onepage&q=%22k%20s%20jayaraman%22%20%22new%20scientist%22%201978&f=false "India reveals deep frozen test-tube baby"], K. S. Jayaraman, New Scientist, 19 Oct 1978</ref><ref name="cal">{{cite news | url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1101005/jsp/frontpage/story_13020013.jsp | title=Test tube triumph & tragedy - Nobel for UK scientist stirs memory of a Bengal doctor | work=[[The Telegraph (Calcutta)]] | date=5 October 2010 | access-date=4 March 2012}}</ref><ref name="ht">{{cite news | url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/World/Medicine-Nobel-for-IVF-pioneer/Article1-608106.aspx | title=Medicine Nobel for IVF pioneer | work=[[Hindustan Times]] | date=4 October 2010 | access-date=4 March 2012 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101021221142/http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/world/Medicine-Nobel-for-IVF-pioneer/Article1-608106.aspx | archive-date=21 October 2010 | df=dmy-all }}</ref>

Facing social ostracisation, [[bureaucratic]] negligence, reprimand and insult instead of [[Recognition (sociology)|recognition]] from the West Bengal State government,<ref>[http://www.currentscience.ac.in/Downloads/article_id_072_07_0526_0531_0.pdf "Architect of India's first test tube baby: Dr Subhas Mukerji (16 January 1931 to 19 July 1981)"], Current SCience, Vol. 72, No.7, 10 April 1997</ref><ref name="toi" /> and refusal of the [[Government of India]] to allow him to attend international conferences,<ref name="toi" /> he committed suicide in his Calcutta residence on 19 June 1981.<ref name="sify">{{cite news | url=http://www.sify.com/news/subhash-mukhopadhyay-the-unlucky-doctor-behind-india-s-first-test-tube-baby-news-national-kkerEdfedba.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101007065102/http://sify.com/news/subhash-mukhopadhyay-the-unlucky-doctor-behind-india-s-first-test-tube-baby-news-national-kkerEdfedba.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=7 October 2010 | title=Subhash Mukhopadhyay - the unlucky doctor behind India's first Test-tube baby | work=[[Sify.com]] | date=4 October 2010 | access-date=4 March 2012}}</ref><ref name="toi">{{cite news | url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2003-10-14/kolkata/27179940_1_first-test-tube-baby-sunit-mukherjee-honour | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130421162421/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2003-10-14/kolkata/27179940_1_first-test-tube-baby-sunit-mukherjee-honour | url-status=dead | archive-date=21 April 2013 | title=Honour fails to cheer doctor's wife | work=[[The Times of India]] | date=14 October 2003 | access-date=4 March 2012}}</ref> He wrote in his suicide note:<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.edtimes.in/the-pioneer-of-ivf-in-india-who-was-rewarded-with-suicide-subhash-mukhopadhyay/|title=The Pioneer Of IVF In India Who Was Rewarded With Suicide: Subhash Mukhopadhyay|last=Pal|first=Sanchari|date=2018-09-19|website=ED Times {{!}} The Youth Blog|language=en-US|access-date=2020-01-16}}</ref>{{cquote|I can't wait everyday for a heart attack to kill me.}}

His feat has been given belated recognition as the Indian physician who in 1986 was ''officially'' regarded as being the first doctor to perform in-vitro fertilisation in India.

His recognition is attributable to [[T. C. Anand Kumar]] who is credited to be the mastermind behind India's second (officially the first) test-tube baby. Kumar came to the conclusion that he was not the first after reviewing Subhash Mukhopadhyay's personal notes. He was ably helped by Sunit Mukherji, who was a one-time colleague of Mukhopadhyay. Kumar was involved in setting up a research institute in [[reproductive biology]] in memory of Mukhopadhyay.

A film [[Ek Doctor Ki Maut]] directed by [[Tapan Sinha]] was made on his life.<ref name=sify/>

==Late recognition==
According to scientific records dating from before Mukhopadhyay's eventual recognition, ''Harsha vardhan reddy buri'' (born 16 August 1986) was the first human test tube baby of India. The credit for this achievement went to [[T. C. Anand Kumar]], Director of IRR (ICMR).<ref name=toi2/> In 1997, Kumar went to Kolkata to participate in a Science Congress. It was there that all the research documents of Mukhopadhyay were handed over to him. After scrutinising and having discussions with Durga's parents, Kumar became certain that it was in fact Mukhopadhyay who was the architect of first human test tube baby in India.<ref name=toi2/> This eminent scientist once mentioned in a journal<ref name=toi2/> on ''‘A critique of Mukherjee's technique'', 'The brief description given by Mukherjee in his letter dated 19 October 1978 to the Director of Health Services, Government of West Bengal, the reports he gave over the television interviews and reported in the lay press describe how Mukherjee carried out the procedure of ''in vitro'' fertilisation.'<ref name=toi2>{{cite news | url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2004-01-08/kolkata/28345032_1_test-tube-baby-first-test-tube-programme | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121106134002/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2004-01-08/kolkata/28345032_1_test-tube-baby-first-test-tube-programme | url-status=dead | archive-date=6 November 2012 | title=Late honour for test tube pioneer | work=[[The Times of India]] | date=8 January 2004 | access-date=4 March 2012}}</ref>

On T.C. Anand Kumar’s initiative, Mukhopadhyay was mentioned as the architect of the first Indian test tube baby in a document related to the subject of artificial intercourse in ICMR. {{Citation needed|date=April 2010}} India’s first test tube baby "Durga", whose parental name is Kanupriya Agarwal, works at a multinational company as a marketing executive in Delhi.<ref name=toi2/><ref name=dna/> On her 25th birthday, she publicly revealed her identity for the first time in a ceremony organised in the memory of Mukhopadhyay.<ref name=dna/> She spoke about Mukhopadhyay in front of the media, expressing joy that Mukhopadhyay's achievement had been acknowledged by a reputed international publication, the ''Dictionary of Medical Biography''.<ref name=dna>{{cite news | url=http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_it-s-official-kanupriya-s-indias-first-test-tube-girl_210 | title=It's official: Kanupriya's India's first test-tube girl | work=DNA | date=19 August 2005 | access-date=4 March 2012 | author=Ghosh, Aditya}}</ref>

The ''Dictionary of Medical Biography'', published by World Foundation, enlists names of 1100 medical scientists from 100 countries around the world for their path breaking contributions to the medical science. Dr. Mukhopadhyay's name is one of those names.<ref>[http://indiananalysis.blogspot.in/2010/10/infertility-of-indian-establishment.html Infertility of Indian Establishment] ''indiananalysis.blogspot.in''. Retrieved 20 August 2013</ref>

==See also==
*[[Ek Doctor Ki Maut]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{cite web | url=http://indianexpress.com/article/news-archive/web/i-thought-being-born-in-a-test-tube-was-normal/ | title=I thought being born in a test tube was normal | publisher=Indian Express | date=September 18, 2011 | access-date=September 22, 2016 | author=Pritha Chatterjee}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mukhopadhyay, Subhash}}
[[Category:Bengali people]]
[[Category:Indian gynaecologists]]
[[Category:Medical doctors from Kolkata]]
[[Category:1981 deaths]]
[[Category:University of Calcutta alumni]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Edinburgh]]
[[Category:1931 births]]
[[Category:People from Hazaribagh]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian medical doctors]]
[[Category:Suicides in India]]
[[Category:Indian medical researchers]]
[[Category:1981 suicides]]

Subhash Mukhopadhyay (physician) - Revision history

2.92.124.217 at 22:43, 28 August 2021