In 1902, Sir Ronald Ross was awarded the Nobel for his groundbreaking research linking mosquitoes to the transmission of malaria.
Unfortunately, the vital contributions of Dr Kishori Mohan Bandyopadhyay, a Bengali scientist, without whom the research may not have borne the desired results, remain largely forgotten.
A legacy of excellence
Born in Kolkata in 1877 to a family of educators, Kishori Mohan Bandyopadhyay pursued science at Presidency College and graduated with distinction in 1898. He went on to become a civil surgeon in the Indian Medical Service.
After completing medical studies in London, Ronald Ross joined the Indian Medical Service in 1881 and soon developed a keen interest in malaria, focusing on how the parasite transmitted through mosquitoes.
The grand collaboration
By 1895, Ross began researching this connection and, in 1898, met Kishori Mohan Bandyopadhyay, who became his dedicated lab assistant.
At a time when resources were limited and scientific curiosity was met with skepticism, Dr Kishori Mohan provided essential support: moral, medical, and empirical.
Between 1898 and 1902, Bandyopadhyay played a vital role by visiting villages near Kolkata and Madras to find malaria patients and conducting social campaigns to educate locals about identifying female Anopheles mosquitoes, often using slideshows with photo artist Lakshminarayan Roychowdhury.
Ross himself acknowledged the assistance he received from Indian colleagues, referring to Dr Kishori Mohan’s help in his personal diaries and scientific writings.
Of missed acknowledgements
While Ross went on to receive the Nobel Prize in 1902, Dr Kishori Mohan’s name was largely kept in the shadows.
This upset many prominent figures, including Upendranath Brahmachari, Jagadish Chandra Bose, Sivanath Sastri, and Prafulla Chandra Ray. They petitioned Viceroy Lord Curzon, who then awarded Bandyopadhyay the King Edward VII Gold Medal in 1903 and honoured him at the University Senate Hall.
Bandyopadhyay went on to start The Panihati Cooperative Bank in 1927, two years after which he passed away.
The story of Dr Kishori Mohan Bandyopadhyay as a key Indian collaborator in Ronald Ross’s malaria research is missed in popular history books but is found in historical accounts, Ross’s own writings, and scholarly research that highlights the role of Indian assistants and doctors in colonial science.
*This article has been curated by Hook. All claims and opinions expressed belong to the original author. Hook does not verify or endorse the information presented and is not responsible for its accuracy.*
