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{{short description|Indian family, several of whom are notable in physics}}
{{Infobox family|name= Chandrasekhar family |region =[[South India]]|origin=[[Tamil Nadu]], [[India]]|members = {{unbulleted list|[[C. V. Raman]]|[[Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar]]|[[Venkatraman Radhakrishnan]]| [[S. Ramaseshan|Sivaramakrishna Ramaseshan]]|[[Sivaramakrishna Chandrasekhar]]|[[S. Pancharatnam|Sivaramakrishna Pancharatnam]]|[[V. Shanta]]|[[Chidambara Chandrasekaran]]|[[Vidya Shankar (musician)|Vidya Shankar]]}}|distinctions = {{hlist|[[physics]]|[[crystallography]]|[[meteorology]]|[[astronomy]]|[[literature]]|[[mathematics]]||[[demography]]|[[biostatistics]]|[[medicine]]|[[musicology]]}}}}

The '''Chandrasekhar family''' is a distinguished [[Indian people|Indian]] intellectual [[family]], several of whose members achieved eminence, notably in the field of [[physics]]. Two members of the family, Sir [[C. V. Raman]] and his nephew, [[Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar]], were [[Nobel laureates]] in physics.

Members of the Chandrasekhar family spell the name in various ways. R. Chandrasekhara Iyer was named Chandrasekharan (with an "n") but later became known as Chandrasekhara Aiyar (without the "n").<ref>Parameswaran, p. 5. "At the time of Raman's birth, Chandrasekharan, or Chandrasekhara Aiyar as he became to be known, [...]"</ref> The family caste name "Aiyar" is sometimes spelled "Iyer" or "Ayyar".

==Family tree==
{{Tree list}}
*R. Chandrasekhara Iyer (1866–1910), m. Parvati Ammal (1869–1916)<ref name=Wali_ix>Wali, p. ix</ref><ref name=Parameswaran>Parameswaran, pp. 241-250</ref>
**Chandrasekhara Subrahmanyan Iyer (1885–1960), m. Sitalakshmi Iyer (1891–1931)<ref name=Wali_ix/><ref name=Parameswaran/>
***Rajalakshmi, m.<ref name=Parameswaran/>
****{{Tree list/final branch}} Uma (born 1938), m. Parameswaran. Noted Indo-Canadian writer of South Asian-Canadian literature; former English professor at the University of Winnipeg.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://conservancy.umn.edu/bitstream/handle/11299/166297/Parameswaran,%20Uma.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y| title=U Minn–Voices from the Gaps: Uma Parameswaran | publisher=University of Minnesota | date=2009| access-date=4 November 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://library.ryerson.ca/asianheritage/authors/parameswaran/| title=Ryerson University Library & Archives–Uma Parameswaran | publisher=Ryerson University | date=2009| access-date=4 November 2016}}</ref>
***{{Tree list/final branch}}Balaparvathi, m. Viswanathan<ref name="Dr. V. Shanta"/>
****{{Tree list/final branch}} [[V. Shanta]] (1927–2021)<ref name="Dr. V. Shanta">{{cite web | url=http://thelogicalindian.com/story-feed/get-inspired/dr-v-shanta-from-chennai-awarded-padma-vibhushan-for-her-service-in-the-field-of-cancer/ | title=Dr. V. Shanta From Chennai Honoured With Padma Vibhushan For Her Service In The Field Of Cancer | publisher=Logical Indian | date=13 April 2016 | access-date=4 November 2016}}</ref>
***[[Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar]] (1910–1995), m. Lalitha Doraiswamy (1910–2013)<ref>{{cite news|title=Nobel laureate's wife Lalitha Chandrasekhar dies at 102|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/nobel-laureates-wife-lalitha-chandrasekhar-dies-at-102/article5101654.ece|access-date=4 November 2016|work=The Hindu|date=7 September 2013}}</ref>
***Vishwanathan (1911–1979)
***Balakrishnan (born 1914), famous as Purasu Balakrishnnan, author of The Big Bang & Brahma's day and Glimpses of Kalidasa<ref>Wali, p. 48</ref>
***Ramanathan
***Sarada
***[[Vidya Shankar (musician)|Vidya Shankar]] (1919–2010), famous Carnatic veena player and musicologist
***Savitri
***Sundari
**[[C. V. Raman|Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman]] (1888–1970), m. {{ill|Lokasundari Ammal|qid=Q108750488|short=1}} (1892–1980)<ref name=Parameswaran/>
***{{Tree list/final branch}} {{ill|Chandrasekhar (Raja) Raman|qid=Q124337417|short=1}}<ref name=Parameswaran/>
***{{Tree list/final branch}} [[Venkatraman Radhakrishnan]] (1929–2011), m. Francoise-Dominique Barnard<ref name=Parameswaran/>
****{{Tree list/final branch}} Vivek Radhakrishnan (born c. 1976), m. Namrata Kini<ref>{{cite news|last=Madhukar|first=Jayanti|title=Relative Value: Namrata Kini Radhakrishnan and Vivek Radhakrishnan|url=http://bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com/opinion/sunday-read//articleshow/40317989.cms?|access-date=24 November 2017|work=The Bangalore Mirror|date=16 August 2014}}</ref>
**Mangalam (1891–1918), m. Chidambara<ref>{{cite web|title=Book Reviews- The Life and Works of a Demographer: an autobiography|url=http://www.currentscience.ac.in/Downloads/article_id_077_09_1208_1209_0.pdf|website=[[Current Science]]|access-date=24 November 2017}}</ref><ref>Parameswaran, pp. 6, 90</ref>
***{{Tree list/final branch}} [[Chidambara Chandrasekaran]] (1911–2000)<ref>{{cite web|title=Chidambara Chandrasekaran (1911-2000): an obituary|url=http://www.iisc.ernet.in/currsci/mar102000/PERSONALNEWS.PDF|website=[[Current Science]]|access-date=24 November 2017}}</ref>
**Kumaraswami (Skandan, 1894–1914)<ref name=Parameswaran/>
**Sundaram (1898–1907)<ref name=Parameswaran/>
**Sitalakshmi (1901–1972), m. R.B.S. Sivaramakrishnan<ref name=Parameswaran/>
***[[S. Ramaseshan]] (1923–2003)
***[[Sivaramakrishna Chandrasekhar]] (1930–2004)
***{{Tree list/final branch}} [[S. Pancharatnam]] (1934–1969)<ref name=Parameswaran/>
**Meena (1903–1912)<ref name=Parameswaran/>
**{{Tree list/final branch}} Chandrasekhara Ramaswamy (1907–1991), m. <ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.ias.ac.in/public/Resources/Other_Publications/Patrika/patrika_24.pdf | title=''Patrika''–Chandrasekhara Ramaswamy | publisher=Indian Academy of Sciences | date=January 1992 | access-date=26 February 2017}}</ref><ref name=Wali_313>Wali, p. 313</ref>
***{{Tree list/final branch}} 3 sons.
{{Tree list/end}}

==First generation==
*'''[[C. V. Raman|Chandrasekhara Venkata (C. V.) Raman]] [[Indian National Science Academy|FNA]], [[Indian Academy of Sciences|FASc]], [[Royal Society|FRS]]''', was a distinguished physicist whose achievements in the field of [[light scattering]] earned him the 1930 [[Nobel Prize for Physics]]. He discovered that when light traverses a transparent material, the wavelengths of some of the deflected light change. This phenomenon, now known as [[Raman scattering]], results from the [[Raman effect|eponymous effect]].<ref>{{cite web|title= Sir Venkata Raman – Biographical|url= https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1930/raman-bio.html|publisher= Nobel Prize in Physics – Official website|access-date= 4 November 2016}}</ref>
*'''[[Chandrasekhara Ramaswamy]] [[Indian Academy of Sciences|FASc]]''' (brother of C. V. Raman) was a noted [[meteorologist]] who served as Director-General of the [[Indian Meteorological Department]] (1965–1967). He conducted research into the regional and global effects of Indian monsoonal patterns.

==Second generation==
[[File:S. Chandrasekhar with family.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|S. Chandrasekhar with his brothers and sisters in Madras [Chennai], India. From left to right seated are: Bala, Savitri, Chandra, Sarada, Rajam; standing: Vidya, Balakrishnan, Vishwam, Ramanathan, Sundari.]]

*'''[[Venkatraman Radhakrishnan]] [[Indian Academy of Sciences|FASc]]''' (son of C. V. Raman) was a distinguished [[astrophysicist]] credited with expanding the field of [[radio astronomy]] and for research in [[pulsars]], [[interstellar clouds]] and various celestial bodies.
*'''[[Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar]] [[Indian National Science Academy|FNA]], [[Indian Academy of Sciences|FASc]], [[Royal Society|FRS]]''' (nephew of C. V. Raman) was an [[Indian American]] [[astrophysicist]] who was awarded the 1983 [[Nobel Prize for Physics]] with [[William A. Fowler]] "for his theoretical studies of the physical processes of importance to the structure and evolution of the stars". His mathematical treatment of stellar evolution yielded many of the best current theoretical models of the later evolutionary stages of massive stars and [[black hole]]s.<ref name=currentscience>{{cite journal | last=Vishveshwara | first=C.V. | title=Leaves from an unwritten diary: S. Chandrasekhar, Reminiscences and Reflections| journal=Current Science | volume=78 | issue=8 | pages=1025–1033 |date=25 April 2000 | url=http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/apr252000/generalia.pdf | access-date=4 November 2016}}</ref> The [[Chandrasekhar limit]] is named after him.
*'''[[Sivaraj Ramaseshan]] [[Indian National Science Academy|FNA]], [[Indian Academy of Sciences|FASc]]''' (nephew of C. V. Raman) was a distinguished [[Crystallography|crystallographer]], director of the Indian Institute of Science (1981–1984), and president of the Indian Academy of Sciences (1983–1985).
*'''[[Sivaramakrishna Chandrasekhar]] [[Indian National Science Academy|FNA]], [[Indian Academy of Sciences|FASc]], [[Royal Society|FRS]]''' (nephew of C. V. Raman) was a distinguished physicist and pioneer in the field of [[liquid crystal]] technology who served as founder-president of the [[International Liquid Crystal Society]]. His efforts helped to establish the indigenous manufacture of liquid crystal displays in India. In 1977, he and his co-workers discovered the [[columnar phase]] of liquid crystals.
*'''[[Shivaramakrishnan Pancharatnam]] [[Indian Academy of Sciences|FASc]]''' (nephew of C. V. Raman) was a distinguished optical physicist who, in 1956, discovered the properties of what is now known as the [[geometric phase]] (sometimes known as the Pancharatnam phase) for polarized beams passing through crystals.
*'''[[Chidambara Chandrasekaran]] [[Indian Academy of Sciences|FASc]]''' (nephew of C. V. Raman) was an accomplished [[demographer]] and [[biostatistician]]. In 1949, together with [[W. Edwards Deming]], he devised the Chandra-Deming formula to estimate numbers of vital events by comparing results from two different systems. He was director of the Demographic Training and Research Centre, Mumbai (later renamed the International Institute of Population Sciences) from 1959 to 1964, and conducted several landmark demographic studies for the Indian government, the [[World Bank]] and the [[United Nations]]. He was president of the [[International Union for the Scientific Study of Population]] (IUSSP) from 1969 to 1973.
*'''[[Vidya Shankar]]''' (niece of C. V. Raman) was a distinguished musicologist and ''vainika'' (''[[veena]]'' musician) who received the [[Sangeet Natak Akademi Award]] in 2007.<ref name="bio">{{cite news |last=Krishnan |first=Lalithaa |date=1 July 2010 |title=Art and science converged here |url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/music/Art-and-science-converged-here/article16181169.ece |work=The Hindu |access-date=3 December 2020}}</ref>

==Third generation==
*'''[[V. Shanta]]''' (great-niece of C. V. Raman, niece of Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar) was a prominent oncologist and researcher. In 2005, she received the [[Ramon Magsaysay Award]] for Public Service.
*'''[[Uma Parameswaran]]''' (great-niece of C. V. Raman, niece of Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar) is a noted Indo-Canadian author of South Asian literature and a biographer of her great-uncle C. V. Raman.

==Sources==
*Parameswaran, Uma (2011). ''C. V. Raman: a biography''. Penguin Books. {{ISBN|9780143066897}}
*Wali, Kameshwar C. (1991). ''Chandra: a biography of S. Chandrasekhar''. The University of Chicago Press. {{ISBN|0-226-87054-5}}.

==Footnotes==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.entitree.com/en/family_tree/Q124331821 EntiTree link] for Chandrasekhar family: a visualization of the family tree based on [[Wikidata]] entries

[[Category:Chandrasekhar family| ]]
[[Category: Indian families]]
[[Category:Scientific families]]

Chandrasekhar family - Revision history

RealArifHossain at 09:25, 8 May 2026