Professor Shonku

Professor Shonku
Professor Shonku (in the middle) along with his English friend Jeremy Saunders and German friend Wilhelm Krol
First appearance	Byomjatrir Diary
Last appearance	Swarnaparni
Created by	Satyajit Ray
Portrayed by	Satyajit Ray
Full name	Trilokeshwar Shonku
Residence	Giridih
Pet	Newton (cat)
Language skills	capable of speaking 69 languages
Mother tongue	Bengali
Information
Nickname(s)	Tilu
Gender	Male
Occupation	Scientific inventor, professor of physics at the Scottish Church College in his early days
Title	Shonku
Family	Shonku
Relatives	Tripureswar Shonku (father) Batukeshwar Shonku (grandfather of great grandfather {(oti briddho propitamoho)}
Religion	Hinduism
Nationality	Indian

Professor Shonku is a fictional scientist created by Satyajit Ray in a series of Bengali science fiction books. His full name is Trilokeshwar Shonku, and by occupation, he is an inventor. He is the son of Dr. Tripureshwar Shonku. The family name Shonku is caste-less and class-less, as seen by the norms of Bengali Hindu society.

The real name of Professor Shonku is Trilokeshwar Shonku. He lives in Giridih beside the river Usri. He has a male-servant named Prahllad and a cat named Newton living in the house. In his story "The Astronaut's Diary" (Byomjatrir diary) Ray introduced Professor Shonku, the protagonist of his science-fiction stories.

Professor Shonku's father Tripureshwar was a physician. Professor Shonku was born on June 16. His nickname is Tilu. Professor Shonku passed matriculation examination of the University of Calcutta at the age of 15. At the age of 16, Professor Shonku received his BSc degree with honours in two subjects, Physics and Chemistry. In Satyajit Ray's last finished novel of the series, Swarnaparnee, that was initially published in the Special Puja issue of Anandamela children's magazine in 1992, it was mentioned that at the age of 20, Professor Shonku took his first job as a professor of physics in Calcutta's Scottish Church College.

Professor Shonku is a polyglot who knows 69 languages. His pet cat 'Newton' is 24 years old.

By his own admission, Satyajit Ray had based Prof. Shonku on Professor Challenger, by Arthur Conan Doyle. and a character created by Ray's father Sukumar Ray named Hesoram Hushiar. The other important character in Satyajit Ray's novels and short stories is the sleuth Feluda, who is of the same profession as Conan Doyle's famous private detective, Sherlock Holmes and Tarinicharan Banerjee (or Tarainikhuro) the story teller.