Purnima Sinha
| Purnima Sinha | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 12, 1927 Kolkata, India |
| Died | July 11, 2015 Bengaluru, India |
| Residence | Shantiniketan, India |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Fields | X-ray crystallography of clay minerals |
| Institutions | Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore |
| Alma mater | University of Calcutta |
| Doctoral advisor | Satyendra Nath Bose |
| Known for | being the first Bengali woman to receive a doctorate in physics |
| Spouse | Surajit Chandra Sinha |
| Children | Sukanya Sinha, Supurna Sinha |
Purnima Sinha (October 12, 1927 - July 11, 2015) was an Indian physicist and had the distinction of being the first Bengali woman to receive a doctorate in physics.
Purnima was born on 12 October 1927 as the youngest daughter of Dr. Nares Chandra Sen-Gupta who was a constitutional lawyer and a progressive writer who had written over sixty five books and several essays in Bengali as well as in English, some of them on women’s education. She married the eminent anthropologist professor Surajit Chandra Sinha, former vice-chancellor, Visva-Bharati University who made significant contributions to understanding the process of acculturation of tribal peoples in India.
Purnima's early education started in Lake School, Kolkata, which was established by her elder sister Sushama Sengupta. She attended Asutosh College, followed by the Scottish Church College, and finally the University of Calcutta. Her own artistic interests are varied, and include learning Hindustani classical music from Yamini Ganguly, and painting from the well-known painter Gopal Ghosh. She has also taken tabla lessons from Pandit Jnan Prakash Ghosh. Her other talents include sculpting and painting. Purnima's career in science spans many decades. Fifty years ago, she earned her doctorate in x-ray crystallography of clay minerals. She received her doctorate from the University of Calcutta as a student of the Rajabazar Science College in 1956-7, under the guidance of professor Satyendra Nath Bose. She has the distinction of being the first Bengali woman to receive a doctorate in physics.
She had written extensively on many subjects in both English and Bengali. She had also been a regular contributor to Jnan O Bijnan (Knowledge and Science), a scientific journal in the Bengali vernacular published by Bangiya Bijnan Parishad (Bengal Science Association), founded by Satyendra Nath Bose. Recently Bangiya Bigyan Parishad awarded and felicitated her for popularizing science in Bengali, a passion she shared with her teacher.
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