Panchanan Mitra

Personal life and family He was born to a well-known Bengali Kayastha family at Soora, an eastern suburb of Kolkata, India on 24 May 1892. The Mitra family was one of the oldest families of Bengal and received various honours from the Bengal Nawab. Raja Pitambar Mitra migrated to Oudh after the disaster at Palashi, and the family was settled there for many generations. When the family was under Ajodhyaram they received many honors from the Nawab Vizir of Oudh and the emperor at Delhi as well. Many members of the Mitra family were well known in literary circles. Pitambar and his grandson, Janmejay Mitra wrote Brajabuli poems. Janmejay was an Urdu poet of distinguished standing as well. Dr. Mitra's 1892. His grandfather's elder brother was Rajendralal Mitra was the first Indian President of The Asiatic Society and one of the pioneers of the Indian Renaissance. Rajendralal was the third son of Janmejay Mitra. Mitra died on 25 July 1936. Panchanan Mitra was the first Indian to obtain a PhD from Yale University, USA in the year 1930. At Yale, he worked under the supervision of Clark Wissler. He was also an associate member at the American Museum of Natural History. The Asiatic Society awards an annual 'Panchanan Mitra Memorial Lectureship' for outstanding contributions to the field of anthropology in his name.

Legacy The recent (2005) publication of his book entitled Manual of Prehistoric India shows the continuing importance of his work. Although his contributions included much outside the realm of anthropology, probably his greatest legacy is the introduction and development of anthropology as an academic discipline in India. Presently, anthropology and its related sub-disciplines are taught in more than 40 Indian universities.