Kamala Sohonie

Kamala Sohonie (18 June 1911 – 28 June 1998) was an Indian biochemist who in 1939 became the first Indian woman to receive a PhD in a scientific discipline. Her acceptance into and work at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, paved the way for women to be accepted into the institution for the first time in its history.

Her research delved into the effects of vitamins and into the nutritive values of pulses, paddy, and groups of food items consumed by some of the poorest sections of the Indian population. Her work on the nutritional benefits of the palm extract called 'Neera' was inspired by the then-president Rajendra Prasad's suggestion. Kamala Sohonie received the Rashtrapati Award for this work.

Early life Kamala Sohonie (née Bhagvat) was born on 18 June 1911 in Indore, now in Madhya Pradesh, India. Her father, Narayanarao Bhagvat, as well as her uncle, Madhavrao Bhagvat, were chemists and alumni of the erstwhile Tata Institute of Sciences (which later became the Indian Institute of Science) in Bengaluru. Kamala responded to the rejection by holding a 'satyagraha' outside Prof. C V .Raman's office, which persuaded him to grant her admission, but with some stipulations:

She would not be admitted as a regular student. She would be on probation for the entire first year. Her work would not be officially recognized until CV Raman was himself satisfied with its quality. She would not spoil the environment by being a "distraction" to her male colleagues.

Although admittedly humiliated by them, Kamala agreed to the terms, thus becoming in 1933 the first woman to be admitted into the institute. She would later say, "Though Raman was a great scientist, he was very narrow-minded. I can never forget the way he treated me just because I was a woman. Even then, Raman didn't admit me as a regular student. This was a great insult to me. The bias against women was so bad at that time. What can one expect if even a Nobel Laureate behaves in such a way?". Also after a year, many women got their admission to the institution.

Career and research Kamala's mentor at the IISc was Sri Srinivasayya. During her stint here, she worked on proteins in milk, pulses and legumes (a subject that was especially significant in the Indian context). Her dedication and research mettle influenced Prof. Raman's decision to let women into the IISc a year after she completed her MSc degree with distinction in 1936.

She was then invited to UK's Cambridge University to work under Dr. Derek Richter in the Frederick G. Hopkins laboratory. She was a student of Newnham College, matriculating in 1937 and studying the Biological Natural Sciences Tripos. When Richter left, she worked under Dr. Robin Hill and studied plant tissues. From her work on potatoes, she discovered the enzyme Cytochrome c which plays an essential role in the electron transport chain (the process by which energy is created for organisms), found in plants, human and animal cells.