Jacob Chandy

Jacob Chandy (23 January 1910 – 23 June 2007) was an Indian neurosurgeon and teacher of medical sciences. As the first neurosurgeon in India, he is widely regarded as the father of modern neurosurgery in India. In 1964, the Government of India honoured him with their third highest civilian award, Padmabhushan, for his services in the fields of neurosurgery and medical education. advised Jacob Chandy, "to free your students to learn, to create opportunities for your researchers to solve the medical problems of India, and above all to consider the needs of the near and oncoming future" In 1945, he received a fellowship from the Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI) and continued to practice surgery till 1948.

After obtaining a fellowship from the Royal College of Surgeons, Canada (FRCS), also in 1948, Chandy moved to Chicago to take up duties as the chief resident at the University of Chicago. It was during this time that Chandy was invited by Robert Greenhill Cochrane, medical missionary and Leprologist, to join the Christian Medical College, Vellore (CMC), a fledgling medical college at that time. During his association with CMC, Chandy held various posts such as the professor of neurology and neurosurgery and the medical superintendent; he was the principal when he retired in 1970.

Chandy died on 23 June 2007, leaving behind his wife, Accamma, a daughter, also named Accamma, and two sons, Mathew and Varghese, the former a neurosurgeon and MNI fellow, and the latter, a chemical engineer. He assisted many medical practitioners to get advanced training at the Montreal Neurological Institute, such as J. C. Jacob and G. M. Taori in neurology, Sushil Chandi in neuropathology, and Elizabeth Mammen and S. Sarojini in neurosurgical nursing. who founded the neurochemistry laboratory, which identified the enzymopathy of metachromatic leucodystrophy, in collaboration with James H. Austin. He founded the Neurological Society of India in 1951, along with B. Ramamurthi, Baldev Singh and S. T. Narasimhan. He was the first surgeon in India to perform an epilepsy surgery on 25 August 1952, on a patient suffering from right infantile hemiplegia and medially refractory seizures.

Awards and recognitions Chandy was honoured by several institutions, organisations, and governmental bodies during his career. Professor emeritus of the Government of Kerala – 1970