Ashutosh Mukherjee

2026-04-25T05:04:17Z

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{{short description|Bengali lawyer and mathematician (1864-1924)}}
{{for|the writer Ashutosh Mukherjee|Ashutosh Mukhopadhyay}}
{{Use Indian English|date=September 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2018}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix = [[Judge|Justice]] ([[Sir]])
| name = Ashutosh Mukherjee
| image = Asutosh Mukhopadhyay.jpg
| honorific_suffix = <small>[[Order of the Star of India|CSI]], [[Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh|FRSE]], [[Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society|FRAS]], [[Physical Society of London|FPSL]], [[Royal Irish Academy|MRIA]]</small>
| alt =
| caption = Ashutosh Mukherjee
| nickname = The Tiger of Bengal<br>বাংলার বাঘ
| order = 22nd
| office = Vice Chancellor of Calcutta University
| term1 = 31 March 1906 – 30 March 1914
| predecessor1 = [[Alexander Pedler]]
| successor1 = [[Deva Prasad Sarbadhikari]]
| term = 4 April 1921 – 3 April 1923
| predecessor = [[Nilratan Sircar]]
| successor = [[Bhupendranath Basu]]
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1864|06|29}}
| birth_place = [[Calcutta]], [[Bengal Presidency]], [[British Raj|British India]] (now [[West Bengal]], [[India]])
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1924|5|25|1864|06|29}}
| death_place = [[Patna]], [[Bihar and Orissa Province]], [[British Raj|British India]] (now in [[Bihar]], India)
| resting_place = Russa Road, [[Calcutta]] (Now 77 Ashutosh Mookerjee Road, Kolkata – 700025)
| occupation = Educator and the second Indian [[Vice-Chancellor]] of the [[University of Calcutta]] Judge of the [[Calcutta High Court]] (1903–1924)
| citizenship = British
| education = [[University of Calcutta]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]], [[Master of Arts|MA]], [[MSc]], [[Bachelor of Laws|LL.B]], [[LL.D.|LL.D]])
| period =
| genre =
| subject =
| spouse = Jogomaya Devi
| children = 4, including [[Syama Prasad Mukherjee]]
| relatives = [[Chittatosh Mookerjee]] (grandson)
| awards = [[Knight Bachelor]] (1911)<br>Companion of the [[Order of the Star of India]] (CSI, 1909)
| signature =
| signature_alt =
| website =
| portaldisp =
}}
[[Sir]] '''Ashutosh Mukherjee'''<ref name="Mukhopadhyay_legacy"/><ref name="Asutosh_maths"/> (anglicised, originally '''Asutosh Mukhopadhyay''',<ref name="Asutosh_maths">{{cite web|title=The mathematician in Asutosh Mukhopadhyay|url=http://www.currentscience.ac.in/Volumes/107/08/1339.pdf|website=[[Current Science]]|access-date=29 September 2017}}</ref> also anglicised to '''Asutosh Mookerjee''') (29 June 1864 – 25 May 1924) was an [[Indian people|Indian]] mathematician, lawyer, jurist, judge, educator, and institution builder. A unique figure in Indian history, he made major contributions in the fields of mathematics, law, and higher education.

A holder of Masters degrees in both Mathematics and Natural Sciences, he was one of the first Indians to publish research papers in British journals. He became a [[Fellow]] of the [[Royal Society of Edinburgh]] at the age of 22, and was a Fellow or Member of various learned bodies in Europe and the United States.{{Citation needed|date=July 2025}}

Mukherjee passed his law examination and built a successful law practice. He received an [[LL.D.]] and gave lectures on law at the university.{{Clarify|reason=which university?|date=July 2025}} He became a judge of the Calcutta High Court, and acted as a Chief Justice for couple of years. He established the [[Hazra Law College|University College of Law]] at the university.{{Citation needed|date=July 2025}}

"It was his ambition that Calcutta should become a centre of learning and research," noted his obituary in ''Nature'' (1924).<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.nature.com/articles/113897a0|title=Sir Asutosh Mookerjee|first=C. E.|last=C.|date=14 June 1924|journal=Nature|volume=113|issue=2851|pages=897–897|via=www.nature.com|doi=10.1038/113897a0}}</ref> As the [[Vice-Chancellor]] of the [[University of Calcutta]] (1906–1914 and 1921–23), Mukherjee transformed an examination conducting, degree granting body into one of Asia's top research universities. He started new departments for post graduate study in various disciplines, raised funds to create new chaired professorships and build facilities, hired outstanding professors in diverse fields of study (including Asia's first Nobel Prize winning scientist [[C. V. Raman|Sir C.V. Raman]]), and supported graduated students in their efforts to pursue advanced research.{{Citation needed|date=July 2025}}

Mukherjee was the president of the inaugural session of the [[Indian Science Congress]] (1914). He played a major role in the foundation of the ''Bengal Technical Institute'' (1906), which later became Jadavpur University. He founded the [[Calcutta Mathematical Society]] (1908).<ref>Patrick Petitjean, [[Catherine Jami]] and Anne Marie Moulin eds. (1992) ''Science and Empires'', Boston Study in the Philosophy of Science, Vol. 136, Kluwer Academic Publishers. {{ISBN|978-94-011-2594-9}}, {{doi|10.1007/978-94-011-2594-9}}</ref> The [[Ashutosh College]] was also founded under his stewardship in 1916.{{Citation needed|date=July 2025}}

He is often called "''Banglar Bagh''" ('The Bengal Tiger') for his high self-esteem, courage and academic integrity.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.anandabazar.com/patrika/ashutosh-mukherjee-an-eminent-educator-who-made-bengalis-proud-1.960305|title=Asutosh Mukhopadhyay: An eminent educator who made Bengalis proud}}</ref> According to historian [[D. R. Bhandarkar]], the epithet 'Vikramaditya' is also ascribed to Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee.<ref>{{cite news|title=First in class|newspaper=The Hindu
|date=29 June 2013
|url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/magazine/first-in-class/article4862894.ece
|last1=Dutta
|first1=Ashis
}}</ref>

==Early life and family ==
Ashutosh Mukherjee was born on 29 June 1864 at [[Bowbazar]], Calcutta (today's Kolkata) in a Hindu [[Brahmin]] family.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mukherji |first1=Purabi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DfaVEAAAQBAJ&dq=Mathematician+brahmin&pg=PA19 |title=Notable Modern Indian Mathematicians and Statisticians: During the 19th and 20th Centuries of Bengal |date=11 October 2022 |publisher=Springer Nature |isbn=978-981-19-6132-8 |language=en}}</ref> His mother was Jagattarini Devi and father Dr. Ganga Prasad Mukhopadhyaya. His ancestral town was [[Jirat]] in [[Hooghly District]], [[West Bengal]].<ref name="Ghatak1">Ghatak, Atulchandra, ''Ashutosher Chatrajiban Ed. 8th'', 1954, p 1, Chakraborty Chatterjee & Co. Ltd.</ref> Among his ancestors were several distinguished Sanskrit scholars, including Pandit Ramchandra Tarkalankar, a professor of ''[[nyaya]]'' who had been appointed by [[Warren Hastings]] to that chair at the Sanskrit College in Kolkata.<ref name="Ashutosh_life">{{cite web |title=Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee: educationist, leader and institution-builder |url=http://www.currentscience.ac.in/Downloads/article_id_078_12_1566_1573_0.pdf |access-date=29 September 2017 |website=[[Current Science]]}}</ref>

Mukherjee's grandfather Biswanath Mukhopadhyaya. His came to Jirat from another village named Digsui, situated also in the Hooghly District and settled down there. Father Ganga Prasad Mukherjee was born in Jirat on 16 December 1836.<ref name="Ghatak1" /> He came to [[Kolkata]] to study in [[Medical College]] with the help of the wealthy people of Jirat. Later he settled down in [[Bhawanipore]] area of [[Kolkata]]. He became a well-known doctor and founded the South Sub Urban School in Calcutta.

Ganga Prasad took particular care of his son's education. Brought up in an atmosphere of science and literature at home, young Ashutosh went to the Sisu Vidayalaya at Chakraberia, [[Bhowanipore]] and showed an early aptitude for mathematics. When he was young, he met [[Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar]] who was a major influence on him. He was a student of [[Madhusudan Das]].<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.mslawcollege.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=84&Itemid=29 |title=Our History |work=mslawcollege.org |year=2012 |quote=Ashutosh Mukherjee, the then Vice-Chancellor of Calcutta University who was a student of Utkal Gourab Madhusudan Das |access-date=28 April 2012}}</ref>

In November 1879, at the age of fifteen, Mukherjee passed the entrance exam of the [[Calcutta University]] in which he stood second and received a first grade scholarship.<ref name="Asutosh_life">{{cite web |title=Sir Asutosh Mukherjee: educationist, leader and institution-builder |url=http://www.currentscience.ac.in/Downloads/article_id_078_12_1566_1573_0.pdf |access-date=29 September 2017 |website=[[Current Science]]}}</ref> In the year 1880, he took admission at the [[Presidency College, Kolkata|Presidency College]] (now Presidency University) in [[Kolkata]] where he met [[Prafulla Chandra Roy|P.C. Ray]], [[Mahendranath Roy]] and Narendranath Dutta, who would later become famous as [[Swami Vivekananda]]. In 1883, Mukherjee topped the BA examination at [[Calcutta University]]<ref>{{cite book |author=Rachana Chakrabarty |title=Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh |publisher=[[Asiatic Society of Bangladesh]] |year=2012 |editor1=Sirajul Islam |editor1-link=Sirajul Islam |edition=Second |chapter=Premchand Roychand Studentship |editor2=Ahmed A. Jamal |chapter-url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Premchand_Roychand_Studentship}}</ref> to complete a postgraduate degree in mathematics. He was awarded the prestigious Premchand Roychand Fellowship in Mathematics and Physics, Pure and Applied.<ref name="Asutosh_maths" />

In 1883 [[Surendranath Banerjee]] wrote an article in the newspaper ''Bengalee'' against the orders of the Calcutta High Court and he was arrested in contempt of court. Protests and ''hartals'' erupted across Bengal and other cities, led by a group of students headed by Mukherjee at Calcutta high court.

In 1884, he won the Harishchandra Prize for academic achievements, and completed an M.A. with first-class honours in mathematics in 1885.<ref name="Asutosh_life" /> In 1885, he married Jogamaya Devi Bhattacharyya. In 1886, he was awarded a second Masters in Natural Sciences, making him the first student to be awarded a dual degree from Calcutta University.<ref name="Asutosh_life" />

Next, Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee pursued a career in law. He received a [[Bachelor of Law]] degree in 1888 and enrolled as a ''vakil'' of the Calcutta High Court. In 1897, he received a [[Doctor of Law]] ([[LL.D.]]) and became the Tagore Professor of Law at the University of Calcutta. In 1904, he was appointed a [[puisne judge]] of the High Court, and subsequently served as its acting Chief Justice for a couple of years.<ref name="Asutosh_life" />

==The young mathematician==
In 1880, though only a first-year undergraduate, he published his first mathematical paper, on a new proof of the 25th proposition of Euclid's first book.<ref name="Asutosh_life" /> His third mathematical paper (1886), "A Note on Elliptic Functions" was praised by the distinguished British mathematician [[Arthur Cayley]] as a contribution of "outstanding merit."<ref name="Asutosh_life" /> He determined several crucial derivations of [[Gaspare Mainardi]]'s answer to determining the oblique trajectory of a system of confocal ellipses. He also made lasting contributions in [[differential geometry]], developing analytical methods of simplifying [[Gaspard Monge]]'s interpretation of his general differential equation for conics.<ref name="Asutosh_maths" /><ref name="Asutosh_life" />

He became a Fellow or Member of various learned bodies in Europe and the United States. He became a Fellow of the [[Royal Astronomical Society]] at the age of 21, and a Fellow of the [[Royal Society of Edinburgh]] (FRSE) when he was 22.<ref name="Asutosh_maths" /> By 1888, Mukherjee was a lecturer in mathematics for the recently established [[Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science]] (IACS).<ref>''IACS - Annual Report for the Year 1888''</ref>

Mukherjee continued publishing scholarly papers on mathematics and physics into his 30s. By 1893, aged 29, Mukherjee had been further elected to the fellowships of the Physical Society of France and the Mathematical Society of Palermo, and was a member of the [[Royal Irish Academy]]. He subsequently became a member of the [[London Mathematical Society]], the Paris Mathematical Society and the [[American Mathematical Society]] (1900).<ref name="Asutosh_maths" /><ref name="Asutosh_life" /> Although after 1893 he largely abandoned his mathematical pursuits for a legal career, Mukherjee has been recognised as the first modern Indian mathematician to enter the field of mathematical research. He also the Calcutta Mathematical Society (1908) and served as its president (1908 – 1923).<ref>{{cite web |title=Calcutta Mathematical Society |url=http://www.calmathsoc.org |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120531145908/http://calmathsoc.org/ |archive-date=31 May 2012 |access-date=12 July 2012 |publisher=Calmathsoc.org}}</ref>

==Lawyer, jurist, and justice==
[[File:Raman-3.jpg|alt=Dedication to Mukherjee in a 1922 copy of Chandrasekhara Raman's "Molecular Diffraction of Light"|thumb|245x245px|[[C. V. Raman|C. V. Raman's]] ''Molecular Diffraction of Light'' (1922) dedicated to Mukherjee]]
At the age of 24, Mukherjee became a Fellow of the Calcutta University. Turning down a job offer in the Department of Public Instruction in order to complete his Bachelor of Law degree, he received his degree in 1888 and enrolled as a ''vakil'' of the Calcutta High Court. He received a Doctor of Law degree ([[LL.D.]]) in 1897.

Jurist, and author V. Sudhish Pai notes: "Mukherjee built a highly successful career with a combination of intellect and industry. He was appointed the Tagore Law Professor at Calcutta University in 1898 and authored the book, The Law of Perpetuities in British India, in 1902—still considered the polestar on the eastern horizon of jurisprudence. He was appointed a judge of the Calcutta High Court in June 1904. His appointment and tenure on the Bench significantly expanded judicial discourse. He brought to bear on his work inexhaustible energy, great erudition and the integrity of scholarship. His learning was vast and his exposition of law complete. Former Chief Justice Mohammad Hidayatullah placed him amongst the six most eminent judges India has produced."<ref>{{cite web | title=Ashutosh Mukherjee: A centennial tribute | date=23 May 2024 | url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/opinions/2024/May/23/ashutosh-mukherjee-a-centennial-tribute }}</ref>

When Mukherjee became a judge at the age of forty, "his senior colleague Justice Rampini told Asutosh that his enthusiasm would perhaps abate with advancing years. Asutosh had said in reply that he would not be justified in continuing as a Judge should his enthusiasm for doing justice diminish or his capacity for work decline."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mookerjee |first=Chittatosh |date=2012 |title="Three Generations in the High Court" in the volume "The High Court at Calcutta 150 Years - An Overview" |url=https://www.wbja.nic.in/pages/view/94/175-high-court-souvenir}}</ref>

Mukherjee served as Calcutta High Court's acting Chief Justice on couple of occasions.<ref name="Asutosh_life" /> He stepped down in 1924 after twenty years of service and restarted his law practice.

==Vice-chancellor and institution builder==

The first modern universities in Asia were established in 1857 in Calcutta, Bombay, and Madras. However, they were modeled after the University of London and set up as affiliating universities that merely conducted examinations and granted degrees to students who were taught in affiliated colleges. Two other universities set up in 19th century British India, the universities of Punjab and Allahabad, operated in a similar way.

Viceroy of India Lord Curzon's education mission in 1902 identified the universities including the Calcutta University, as centres of sedition where young people formed networks of resistance to colonial domination.<ref>Aparna Basu (1974) ''The Growth of Education and Political Development in India, 1898–1920'', New Delhi: Oxford University Press.</ref> The cause of this was thought to be the unwise granting of autonomy to these universities in the nineteenth century. Thus in the period of 1905 to 1935, the colonial administration tried to reinstate government control of education. Despite these strained circumstances, Mukherjee went on to create a culture of academic excellence and built a superb research university.

He was involved in the University of Calcutta's affairs throughout his life. From the age of 25, he was a member of its Syndicate, serving on the University Senate and Syndicate for the next 16 years. He served as President of the Board of Studies in Mathematics for 11 years, and represented his university in the [[Bengal Legislative Council]] from 1899 to 1903. But the real opportunity came in 1906.

Mukherjee served as the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Calcutta from 1906 to 1914 and again from 1921 to 1923.<ref name="Asutosh_life" /> He declared in the 1907 convocation address: "From now on the University is not just an institution issuing certificates, nor is it even a conglomeration of colleges.... This will be a centre of learning and the expansion of the frontiers of knowledge. This is precisely the true ideal of the university."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chatterjea |first=Arkadev |title=The New Oxford Companion to Economics in India |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-19-807855-5 |editor-last=Basu |editor-first=Kaushik |edition=2nd |pages=146–147 |editor-last2=Maertens |editor-first2=Annemie}}</ref>

He started departments for postgraduate study in various disciplines. He set up several new academic graduate programs at the Calcutta University: [[comparative literature]], [[anthropology]], [[applied psychology]], [[industrial chemistry]], ancient Indian history and culture as well as [[Islamic culture]]. He also made arrangements for postgraduate teaching and research in [[Bengali language|Bengali]], [[Hindi]], [[Pali]] and [[Sanskrit]]. He raised funds to create new chairs and build facilities. Vice chancellors of other Indian universities followed many of his moves.

Scholars from all over India, irrespective of [[Race (classification of human beings)|race]], [[caste]], and [[gender]], came to teach and study there. He even persuaded [[European ethnic groups|European]] scholars to teach at his university. Eminent academics hired during his time included:

* Asia's first Nobel Prize winning scientist, discoverer of [[Raman Effect]], physicist Sir [[C. V. Raman|C.V. Raman]], [[Fellow of the Royal Society|FRS]]
* Botanists [[Shankar Purushottam Agharkar|S.P. Agharkar]] and [[Paul Johannes Brühl|Paul J. Brühl]]
* Chemists Sir [[Jnan Chandra Ghosh|J.C. Ghosh]], [[Jnanendra Nath Mukherjee|J.N. Mukherjee]], and Sir [[Prafulla Chandra Ray|P. C. Ray]], [[FRSE]],
* Geologists [https://www.gnlm.com.mm/the-burma-circle-of-the-geological-survey-of-india-and-their-contributions-to-the-geology-of-myanmar-13/ E. W. Vredenburg]
* Historians [[R. C. Majumdar]] and [[Hem Chandra Raychaudhuri|H.C. Raychaudhuri]],
* Indologist and orientalists [[D.R. Bhandarkar]] and [[George Thibaut]],
* Jurists [[Radhabinod Pal]] and Sir [[Abdur Rahim (judge)|Abdur Rahim]]
* Language and Literature scholars [[Nalinaksha Dutt]] and [[Dinesh Chandra Sen]],
* Linguists [[Suniti Kumar Chatterji|S.K. Chatterji]], [[Harinath De]], [[Muhammad Shahidullah]], [https://commons.tsadra.org/index.php/Strauss,_O. Otto Strauss], and [https://www.jstor.org/stable/410701 I.J.S Taraporewala]
* Mathematicians [[Ganesh Prasad]], [[Syamadas Mukhopadhyaya]], [[Nikhil Ranjan Sen|N.R. Sen]], and [[William Henry Young|W.H. Young]], [[Fellow of the Royal Society|FRS]]
* Philosophers Sir [[Brajendra Nath Seal|B. N. Seal]] and Sir [[Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan|S. Radhakrishnan]],
* Physicists [[Debendra Mohan Bose|D.M. Bose]], [[Satyendra Nath Bose|S.N. Bose]], [[Fellow of the Royal Society|FRS]], [[Sisir Kumar Mitra|S.K. Mitra]], [[Fellow of the Royal Society|FRS]], [[Bidhu Bhushan Ray|B.B. Ray]] and [[Meghnad Saha]], [[Fellow of the Royal Society|FRS]].

He supported graduated students in their efforts to pursue advanced research. Graduates of the university at this time included [[Satyendra Nath Bose]] of the [[Bose–Einstein statistics|Bose–Einstein Statistics]] fame (after whom fundamental particles [[boson]]s are named), [[Meghnad Saha]] who developed the [[Saha ionization equation]], and renowned radio physicist [[Sisir Kumar Mitra|Sisir Kuma Mitra]] who pioneered space research in India. All three became [[Fellow of the Royal Society|Fellows of the Royal Society]] (FRS). honorary given the '''Sir''' title.

Mukherjee's institution building activities included establishing the University College of Science ([[Rajabazar Science College]]) and the [[Hazra Law College|University College of Law]]. He also founded [[Asutosh College]] in [[South Kolkata]] in 1916. He laid the foundry stone of Jagadbandhu Institution in 1914 and [[Santragachi Kedarnath Institution]] in 1925.

The French scholar [[Sylvain Lévi]] commented :

{{blockquote|Had this Bengal Tiger been born in France, he would have exceeded even [[Georges Clemenceau]], the French Tiger. Ashutosh had no peer in the whole of Europe.}}

==Later life and death==
[[File:Ashutosh Collection 02291.JPG|left|thumb|'Ashutosh Collection' at National Library of India]]
In 1910, he was appointed the president of the [[National Library of India|Imperial (now National) Library]] Council to which he donated his personal collection of 80,000 books which are arranged in a separate section. He was the president of the inaugural session of the [[Indian Science Congress Association|Indian Science Congress]] in 1914. Mukherjee was a member of the 1917–1919 [[Sadler Commission]], presided over by [[Michael Ernest Sadler]], which inquired into the state of Indian education. He was thrice elected as the president of [[The Asiatic Society]]. Having served as a fellow and subsequently as a vice-president of the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science since the 1890s, in 1922 he was elected President of the IACS and held the office until his death.<ref>{{cite web|title=IACS - Annual Report for the Year 1924|url=http://arxiv.iacs.res.in:8080/jspui/bitstream/10821/434/1/ANNUAL%20REPORT-1924.pdf|website=Archive - IACS|access-date=2 October 2017}}</ref>

After serving five terms as vice-chancellor of Calcutta University, Mukherjee declined to be reappointed to a sixth term in 1923 when the university's chancellor, [[Governor of Bengal]] the [[Victor Bulwer-Lytton, 2nd Earl of Lytton|Earl of Lytton]], tried to impose conditions on his reappointment. Shortly thereafter, he also resigned his judgeship on the Calcutta High Court and resumed his private practice of law. While arguing a case in Patna the following year, Mukherjee died suddenly on 25 May 1924, at age 59. His body was returned to Kolkata and cremated at a funeral service which drew crowds of mourners.<ref name="Asutosh_life"/>

==Personal life==
Mukherjee married Jogamaya Devi Bhattacharyya (1871–16 July 1958) in 1885.<ref>{{cite journal |author= |date=19 July 1958 |title=Shrimati Jogmaya Devi Passes Away |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.39000/page/n63/mode/1up?q= |journal=The Calcutta Municipal Gazette |volume=68 |issue=13 |pages=301 |doi= |access-date=26 December 2021}}</ref> The couple had seven children, Kamala (born 1895), Rama Prasad (1896–1983),<ref>{{cite book |title=Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science: Annual Report for 1983-84 |year=1984 |pages=3}}</ref> Syama Prasad (1901–1953), Uma Prasad (1902–1997), Amala (born 1905), Bama Prasad (born 1906) and Ramala (born 1908).

His oldest son Rama Prasad became a judge in the [[High Court of Calcutta]]. Second son [[Syama Prasad Mookerjee]] was a lawyer, educationist, and a political activist; he founded the [[Bharatiya Jana Sangh]], the direct precursor to the modern [[Bharatiya Janata Party]]. Uma Prasad became famed as a Himalayan trekker and a travel writer - being awarded the [[List of Sahitya Akademi Award winners for Bengali|Sahitya Akademi Award]] for his travelogue ''Manimahesh''.<ref name="Life">{{cite book |author=Tathagata Roy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7sTfDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT23 |title=The Life & Times of Shyama Prasad Mookerjee |date=2014 |publisher=Prabhat Prakashan |isbn=9789350488812 |page=11}}</ref>

His grandson [[Chittatosh Mookerjee]] was the [[Chief justice|Chief Justice]] of the [[Calcutta High Court]] and the [[Bombay High Court]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=25 March 2013 |title=Grandson of Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee upset at Mamata's silence on letter |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/Grandson-of-Sir-Ashutosh-Mukherjee-upset-at-Mamatas-silence-on-letter/articleshow/19181275.cms |access-date=15 May 2018 |newspaper=The Times of India}}</ref> The Mookerjee family became the first to produce three generations of justices in an Indian high court.

==Recognition and legacy==
[[File:Ashutosh Mukherjee 1964 stamp of India.jpg|thumb|Mukherjee on a 1964 stamp of India]]
[[File:Ashutosh Mookerjee Statue at Statesman House - Wikimedia Photowalk Kolkata 20111218 IMG 4527.jpg|thumb|Ashutosh Mukherjee Statue at Chowringhee Square, Kolkata]]
Mukherjee was a polyglot learned in [[Pali]], [[French language|French]] and [[Russian language|Russian]]. Apart from his fellowships and memberships in several international academic bodies, he was recognised by an award of the title of ''Saraswati'' in 1910 from ''pandits'' in [[Nabadwip]], followed by that of ''Shastravachaspati'' in 1912 from the Dhaka Saraswat Samaj, ''Sambudhagama Chakravarty'' in 1914 and ''Bharat Martanda'' in 1920.<ref name="Mukhopadhyay_legacy"/> Mukherjee was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Star of India (CSI) in June 1909,<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=28263 |date=22 June 1909 |page=4855 |supp=y |nolink=y}}</ref> and [[Knight Bachelor|knighted]] in December 1911.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=28559 |date=8 December 1911 |page=9365 |supp= |nolink=y}}</ref>

In his lifetime, he was appointed to numerous academic societies:
*Fellow of the [[Royal Astronomical Society]] (FRAS, 1885)<ref name="Mukhopadhyay_legacy">{{cite journal |last1=Sar |first1=Satyabachi |date=July 2015 |title=Asutosh Mukhopadhyay and his Mathematical Legacy |url=https://www.ias.ac.in/article/fulltext/reso/020/07/0575-0604 |journal=Resonance: Journal of Science Education |volume=20 |issue=7 |pages=575–604 |access-date=23 June 2019 }}</ref>
*Fellow of the [[Royal Society of Edinburgh]] (FRSE, 1886; Member: 1885)<ref name="Mukhopadhyay_legacy"/>
*Member of the Bedford Association for the Improvement of Geometrical Teaching (1886)<ref name="Mukhopadhyay_legacy"/>
*Fellow of the [[Physical Society of London]] (FPSL, 1887)<ref name="Mukhopadhyay_legacy"/>
*Fellow of the [[Edinburgh Mathematical Society]] (1888)<ref name="Mukhopadhyay_legacy"/>
*Membre de la ''[[Société mathématique de France]]'' (1888)<ref name="Mukhopadhyay_legacy"/>
*Member of the ''[[Circolo Matematico di Palermo]]'' (1890)<ref name="Mukhopadhyay_legacy"/>
*Membre de la ''[[Société française de physique]]'' (1890)<ref name="Mukhopadhyay_legacy"/>
*Member of the [[Royal Irish Academy]] (MRIA, 1893)<ref name="Mukhopadhyay_legacy"/>
*Fellow of the [[American Mathematical Society]] (AMS, 1900)<ref name="Mukhopadhyay_legacy"/>

The Government of India issued a stamp in 1964 to commemorate Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee for his contribution to education.

The [[epitaph]] beneath his marble bust at the [[Asutosh Museum of Indian Art]] at the University of Calcutta reads:

{{blockquote|His noblest achievement, surest of them all/ A place for his mother tongue --- in step mother's hall.}}

==References==

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{{Bengal Renaissance}}
{{University of Calcutta Vice chancellors}}

{{Authority control}}

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[[Category:1864 births]]
[[Category:1924 deaths]]
[[Category:Bengali Hindus]]
[[Category:Bengali scientists]]
[[Category:20th-century Bengali people]]
[[Category:19th-century Bengali people]]
[[Category:Presidency University, Kolkata alumni]]
[[Category:University of Calcutta alumni]]
[[Category:Bengali mathematicians]]
[[Category:Brahmos]]
[[Category:Fellows of learned societies of India]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian mathematicians]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian mathematicians]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian educational theorists]]
[[Category:Companions of the Order of the Star of India]]
[[Category:Indian Knights Bachelor]]
[[Category:Vice-chancellors of the University of Calcutta]]
[[Category:Founders of Indian schools and colleges]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian lawyers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian lawyers]]
[[Category:Indian barristers]]
[[Category:Presidents of The Asiatic Society]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh]]
[[Category:Members of the Royal Irish Academy]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the University of Calcutta]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian educational theorists]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian scholars]]
[[Category:Heads of universities and colleges in India]]
[[Category:Indian academic administrators]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian educators]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian educators]]
[[Category:Educators from West Bengal]]
[[Category:Indian jurists]]
[[Category:Judges of the Calcutta High Court]]
[[Category:Indian lecturers]]
[[Category:Linguists from Bengal]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian linguists]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian linguists]]
[[Category:Bengali knights]]

IndianPedia - User contributions [en]

Ashutosh Mukherjee