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{{Short description|Indian plant pathologist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2018}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Toppur Seethapathy Sadasivan
| image = Toppur Seethapathy Sadasivan.jpg
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1913|05|22}}
| birth_place = [[Saidapet]], [[Madras Presidency]], [[British India]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2001|08|18|1913|05|22}}
| death_place = [[Mylapore]], [[Chennai]], Tamil Nadu, India
| alma_mater = {{ubl|[[University of Madras]]|[[University of Lucknow]]|[[University of London]]}}
| occupation = Plant pathologist
| known for = Studies in [[mycology]] and [[plant pathology]]
| awards = [[Padma Bhushan]] [[Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology|Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize]] [[Indian Botanical Society|IBS]] Birbal Sahni Medal [[Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany]] Jubilee Medal [[Indian National Science Academy|INSA]] Sunder Lal Hora Medal Birbal Sahni Birth Centenary Medal
}}
'''Toppur Seethapathy Sadasivan''' (May 22, 1913 – August 18, 2001) was an Indian plant pathologist, academic and the director of the ''Centre for Advanced Studies in Botany'' of the [[University of Madras]].<ref name="Deceased Fellow">{{cite web | url=http://insaindia.org.in/deceaseddetail.php?id=N550683 | title=Deceased Fellow | publisher=Indian National Science Academy | date=2016 | access-date=20 April 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160813041823/http://insaindia.org.in/deceaseddetail.php?id=N550683 | archive-date=13 August 2016 | url-status=usurped | df=dmy-all }}</ref> He was the founder of the ''School of Physiological Plant Pathology'' at Madras University and was a recipient of the [[Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize]], the highest Indian award in the science category.<ref name="Brief Profile of the Awardee">{{cite web | url=http://ssbprize.gov.in/content/Detail.aspx?AID=273 | title=Brief Profile of the Awardee | publisher=Council of Scientific and Industrial Research | date=2016 | access-date=20 April 2016}}</ref> He was an elected fellow of the [[Indian Academy of Sciences]], [[Indian National Science Academy]] and [[Indian Botanical Society]] and an elected member of the [[Academy of Sciences Leopoldina]]. The Government of India awarded him the third highest civilian honour of the [[Padma Bhushan]], in 1974, for his contributions to science.<ref name="Padma Awards">{{cite web | url=http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf | title=Padma Awards | publisher=Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India | date=2016 | access-date=3 January 2016}}</ref>

== Biography ==
[[File:Presidency College Madras.jpg|235px|thumb|[[Presidency College, Chennai]]]]
Toppur Sadasivan was born on 22 May 1913, at [[Saidapet]], a satellite town in [[Chennai|Madras]], [[Madras Presidency]], to Kanakammal and her physician husband, Seethapathy, who was the first Indian director of the [[King Institute of Preventive Medicine and Research]].<ref name="He promoted experimental botany in an inter-disciplinary manner">{{cite web | url=http://madrasmusings.com/Vol%2021%20No%209/otherstories.html | title=He promoted experimental botany in an inter-disciplinary manner | publisher=Madras Musings | date=2016 | access-date=20 April 2016}}</ref> His schooling was at [[P. S. Senior Secondary School]] after which he graduated in Botany from the [[Presidency College, Chennai]] in 1934. Moving to [[Lucknow]], he secured his master's degree from [[Lucknow University]], studying under the tutelage of [[Birbal Sahni]], a known [[paleobotanist]], and started his doctoral research under S. N. Das Gupta.<ref name="Elected Fellow">{{cite web | url=http://insaindia.org/BM/BM24_0407.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160427164942/http://insaindia.org/BM/BM24_0407.pdf | url-status=dead | archive-date=27 April 2016 | title=Elected Fellow | publisher=Indian National Science Academy | date=2016 | access-date=20 April 2016 }}</ref> However, he continued his research at the [[University of London]] under the guidance of F. C. Bauwden and S. D. Garret, to secure a PhD in 1940 and worked at the Rothamsted Experiment Station (present-day [[Rothamsted Research]]), [[Harpenden]] on plant virology and soil mycology for a while<ref name="T. S. Sadasivan – a centennial remembrance ">{{cite web | url=http://www.currentscience.ac.in/Volumes/104/07/0972.pdf | title=T. S. Sadasivan – a centennial remembrance | publisher=Current Science | date=1972 | access-date=20 April 2016}}</ref> before returning to Punjab Agricultural College, [[Lyallpur]] (present-day [[University of Agriculture (Faisalabad)|University of Agriculture, Faisalabad]]) to start his career as a microbiologist, in 1941. Soon, he shifted to the University Botany Laboratory (UBL) of the [[University of Madras]], and took up the position of a Reader, to eventually succeed [[M. O. P. Iyengar]] as its Director in 1944, .<ref name="Elected Fellow" />

At UBL, Sadasivan formed a research group to pursue studies soil-borne diseases affecting [[cash crops]] like cotton, [[pigeonpea]] and rice which is reported to have assisted in the better understanding of the soil-borne [[pathogens]].<ref name="T. S. Sadasivan – A tribute">{{cite web | url=http://www.iisc.ernet.in/currsci/oct102001/845.pdf | title=T. S. Sadasivan – A tribute | publisher=Indian Institute of Science | date=2016 | access-date=20 April 2016}}</ref> He developed several concepts such as ''competitive [[saprophytic]] ability'' and ''Rhizosphere effect'' and these studies were utilized by the Indian [[taxonomist]], C. V. Subramanian, in his classification of [[Hyphomycetes]]. His group collectively published over 600 articles to document their research findings. Under his directorship, UBL became a [[University Grants Commission (India)|University Grants Commission]]-accredited ''Centre for Advanced Study''<ref name="T. S. Sadasivan – a centennial remembrance " /> and he mentored 52 doctoral research scholars, including [[C. V. Subramanian]], a [[Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize]] recipient, who would later succeed him as the head of the ''Centre for Advanced Study''.<ref name="Living Legends in Indian Science">{{cite journal | url=http://www.currentscience.ac.in/Volumes/106/10/1438.pdf | title=Living Legends in Indian Science | author=D. Jayarama Bhat | author2=J. Muthumary | author3=C. Rajendran| author4=S. Raghu Kumar | author5=B. P. R. Vittal | name-list-style=amp | journal=Current Science | date=May 2014 | volume=106 | issue=10}}</ref> He also established the ''School of Physiological Plant Pathology'' at Madras University and served as a consultant to the [[Council of Scientific and Industrial Research]] (CSIR) on plant-based laboratories.<ref name="Deceased Fellow" />

Sadasivan served as the President of the [[Indian Academy of Sciences]] (IAS) from 1971 to 1973 and held other positions at the academy such as Vice-president (1965–70), Secretary (1956–58) and council member (1946–49 and 1956–76).<ref name="Fellow Profile - Sadasivan, Prof. Toppur Sethapathy">{{cite web | url=http://www.ias.ac.in/describe/fellow/Sadasivan,_Prof._Toppur_Sethapathy | title=Fellow Profile - Sadasivan, Prof. Toppur Sethapathy | publisher=Indian Academy of Sciences | date=2016 | access-date=20 April 2016}}</ref> He also sat in the council of the [[Indian National Science Academy]] during various terms (1958–59, 1962–64, 1971–73) and was the chairman of the governing council of the [[Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany]], also serving the institute as the ''Birbal Sahni Professor'' from 1977 to 1980.<ref name="Deceased Fellow" /> He was the editor of the journal published by the [[Indian Botanical Society]] and served as a member of the editorial board of ''Journal of Phytopathology'' (Phytopathology Zeitschrift) published from Berlin. He chaired the Botany section of the [[Indian Science Congress]] of 1958 and was the vice president of the [[International Botanical Congress]] (1959, 1964, 1969 and 1975). When the first International Plant Pathology Congress held in London in 1966, he chaired the convention. He also served as the president of the Indian Phytopathological Society for the year 1964.<ref name="Deceased Fellow" />

Sadasivan was married to Radha and the couple had three daughters.<ref name="T. S. Sadasivan – A tribute" /> He died on 18 August 2001, at the age of 88, at ''Gokulam'', his residence along Mundagakanniamman Koil Street in [[Mylapore]].<ref name="Elected Fellow" />

== Awards and honors ==
The [[Indian Academy of Sciences]] (IAS) elected him as its fellow in 1945<ref name="Fellow Profile - Sadasivan, Prof. Toppur Sethapathy" /> and the [[Indian National Science Academy]] (INSA) followed suit a decade later.<ref name="Deceased Fellow" /> In 1960, he was elected as a member of the [[Academy of Sciences Leopoldina]],<ref name="Members Directory">{{cite web | url=https://www.leopoldina.org/de/mitglieder/mitgliederverzeichnis/member/6327/ | title=Members Directory | publisher=Leopoldina.org | date=2016 | access-date=20 April 2016}}</ref> the same year as he received the [[Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize]], the highest Indian award in the science and technology category, making him the first recipient of the award in the Biological Sciences category.<ref name="View Bhatnagar Awardees">{{cite web | url=http://ssbprize.gov.in/Content/AwardeeList.aspx | title=View Bhatnagar Awardees | publisher=Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize | date=2016 | access-date=4 September 2016}}</ref> He was also an elected fellow of the [[Indian Botanical Society]] and the Indian Phytopathological Society<ref name="Deceased Fellow" /> while the [[University of London]] conferred on him the degree of Doctor of Science (DSc) in 1955.<ref name="Elected Fellow" /> He received the Birbal Sahni Medal of the [[Indian Botanical Society]] in 1962, followed by the [[Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany]] Jubilee Medal in 1971.<ref name="T. S. Sadasivan – A tribute" /> The [[Indian National Science Academy]] awarded him the Sunder Lal Hora Medal in 1973 and the Birbal Sahni Birth Centenary Medal reached him two years before his death in 1999.<ref name="Deceased Fellow" /> The [[Indian National Science Academy]] has instituted an annual oration, ''Professor T. S. Sadasivan Endowment Lecture'' in his honor.<ref name="Professor T. S. Sadasivan Endowment Lecture 1984">{{cite journal | url=http://insa.nic.in/writereaddata/UpLoadedFiles/PINSA/Vol51B_1985_5_Art13.pdf | title=Professor T. S. Sadasivan Endowment Lecture 1984 | author=R. Misra | journal=Proc. Indian Natl. Sci. Acad. | year=1985 | volume=B55 | issue=5 | pages=641–644}}</ref>

== Trivia ==
Sadasivan was reported to have donated a part of his property in [[Kodaikanal]] to [[Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan]] for establishing a school where he served as the chairman for nearly fifteen years.<ref name="He promoted experimental botany in an inter-disciplinary manner" /> He was known to have had a fascination for photography.<ref name="T. S. Sadasivan – a centennial remembrance " /> He wore [[Khadi]] and used to wash his own clothes till his health failed a month before his death.<ref name="Elected Fellow" />

== See also ==
* [[P. S. Senior Secondary School]]
* [[Presidency College, Chennai]]
* [[List of Madras University alumni]]
{{portal|India|Science}}

== References ==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

{{PadmaBhushanAwardRecipients 1970–79}}
{{SSBPST recipients in Biological Science}}
{{Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Laureates of Tamil Nadu}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sadasivan, Toppur Seethapathy}}
[[Category:1913 births]]
[[Category:2001 deaths]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in science & engineering]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in Biological Science]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Indian Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Indian National Science Academy]]
[[Category:Members of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina]]
[[Category:People from Chennai district]]
[[Category:Scientists from Chennai]]
[[Category:Indian Tamil people]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian botanists]]
[[Category:Indian phytopathologists]]
[[Category:Presidency College, Chennai alumni]]
[[Category:University of Madras alumni]]
[[Category:University of Lucknow alumni]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the University of Lucknow]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the University of Madras]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of London]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad]]
[[Category:Council of Scientific and Industrial Research]]
[[Category:Scholars from Chennai]]

Toppur Seethapathy Sadasivan - Revision history

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