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{{Short description|Indian chemist (1901–1981)}}
{{Use Indian English|date = August 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Krishnaswami Venkataraman
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1901|6|7}}
| birth_place = [[Chennai]], [[British Raj|British India]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1981|5|12|1901|7|6}}
| death_place =
| relatives = [[K. Swaminathan]] (brother)<br/>[[Krishnaswami Srinivas Sanjivi]] (brother)<br/>[[Madhav Sharma]] (nephew)
| fields = {{ublist | [[Organic chemistry]] }}
| workplaces = {{ublist | [[National Chemical Laboratory]] | [[University of Mumbai]] | [[Institute of Chemical Technology|University Department
of Chemical Technology]] | [[Forman Christian College]] }}
| alma_mater = {{ublist | [[University of Madras]] | [[University of Manchester]] | [[D. Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology of Russia|Mendeleev Institute of Chemical Technology]] }}
| doctoral_advisor = [[Robert Robinson (organic chemist)|Robert Robinson]]
| doctoral_students = {{ublist|[[Bal Dattatreya Tilak|B. D. Tilak]]|[[Nitya Anand]]|[[A. V. Rama Rao]]}}
| known_for = [[Baker-Venkataraman transformation]]
| awards = {{ublist|1961 [[Padma Bhushan]] | 1975 INSA Professor TR Seshadri Medal | [[Indian Chemical Society|ICS]] PC Ray Medal }}
}}
{{Indian name|Venkataraman|Krishnaswami}}'''Krishnaswami Venkataraman''' [[Indian National Science Academy|FNA]], [[Indian Academy of Sciences|FASc]], [[National Academy of Sciences, India|FNASc]], [[Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry|FRSC]] (7 June 1901 – 12 May 1981), popularly known as '''KV''', was an Indian organic chemist and the first Indian director at [[National Chemical Laboratory]] (NCL Pune) and [[Institute of Chemical Technology|University Department of Chemical Technology]], Mumbai (UDCT). He was known for the demonstration of an organic chemical reaction involving 2-acetoxyacetophenones which later came to be known as the [[Baker–Venkataraman rearrangement]] and for his contributions in developing NCL into one of the leading research centres in organic chemistry. He was an elected fellow of several science academies which included the [[Royal Society of Chemistry]], [[Academy of Sciences Leopoldina]], [[USSR Academy of Sciences]], [[Prussian Academy of Sciences]], [[Polish Academy of Sciences]], [[Indian Academy of Sciences]], and the [[Indian National Science Academy]]. The [[Government of India]] awarded him the [[Padma Bhushan]], the third highest Indian civilian award, in 1961.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.dashboard-padmaawards.gov.in/?Year=1961-1961&Place=Maharashtra&Field=Trade%20and%20Industry&Award=Padma%20Bhushan|title=Padma Awards {{!}} Interactive Dashboard|website=www.dashboard-padmaawards.gov.in|language=en|access-date=2019-07-18}}</ref>

== Biography ==
[[File:Chennai Presidency College Main.jpg|thumb|left|Chennai Presidency College]]
[[File:Jackfruit hanging.JPG|thumb|Jackfruit]]
[[File:Morus alba - Tehran.JPG|thumb|Morus alba]]
Krishnaswami Venkataraman was born on 7 June 1901 in Madras (present-day [[Chennai]]), Madras Presidency during the [[British Raj| British Colonial rule]], in a learned [[Tamil Brahmin]] family, to P. S. Krishnaswami, a civil engineer, [[Sanskrit]] scholar and the translator of [[Valmiki Ramayana]] into [[Tamil language|Tamil]], as the middle-born of his three sons.<ref name="Krishnaswami Venkataraman (1901–1981)">{{Cite web |url=http://www.insaindia.res.in/BM/BM20_9514.pdf |title=Krishnaswami Venkataraman (1901–1981) |last=Anand |first=Nitya |date=2018-05-22 |website=Indian National Science Academy |access-date=2018-05-22}}</ref> His brothers were [[K. Swaminathan]], a professor of English who was the chief editor of the collected works of [[Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi]] and [[Krishnaswami Srinivas Sanjivi]], a noted medical doctor who founded [[Voluntary Health Services]] and is considered by many to be the father of the primary health care movement in India.<ref name="Visionary doctor's legacy">{{Cite news |url=http://www.thehindu.com/2005/03/28/stories/2005032803131200.htm |title=Visionary doctor's legacy |date=28 March 2005 |work=[[The Hindu]] |access-date=2018-05-22}}{{dead link|date=April 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> [[Madhav Sharma]], an actor of films and television, is his nephew.

He studied chemistry at [[Presidency College, Chennai|Presidency College]], Madras and obtained his MA from [[University of Madras|Madras University]] in 1923.<ref name="Father of dyestuff research">{{Cite web |url=http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/seta/2003/02/13/stories/2003021300010300.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030517165834/http://thehindu.com/thehindu/seta/2003/02/13/stories/2003021300010300.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=2003-05-17 |website=[[The Hindu]] |title=Father of dyestuff research |access-date=2017-05-26}}</ref> Subsequently, he moved to England where he joined the [[University of Manchester]] on a scholarship from the [[Government of Tamil Nadu]] and obtained MSc (Tech) in colour chemistry. He remained in England for his doctoral research, along with another noted chemist, [[T. R. Seshadri]], at the laboratory of [[Robert Robinson (organic chemist)|Robert Robinson]] which earned him a PhD and later a DSc from the [[University of Manchester]].<ref name="Krishnaswami Venkataraman (1901–1981)" />

On his return to India in 1927, he worked at the [[Indian Institute of Science]] as a research fellow for almost a year and in 1928, joined [[Forman Christian College]], [[Lahore]] (then part of [[undivided India]]).<ref name="Krishnaswami Venkataraman (1901–1981)" /> He stayed in Lahore until 1934 when he joined the then newly formed University Department of Chemical Technology (UDCT-present-day [[Institute of Chemical Technology]]) of the [[University of Bombay]] as a reader and became a full Professor of Chemical Engineering in 1936. In 1938, he was appointed as the head of the department and as the director in 1943, thus becoming the first Indian director of the Institute.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ictmumbai.edu.in/DisplayPage.aspx?page=em&ItemID=2|title=ICT Mumbai|website=www.ictmumbai.edu.in|access-date=2017-05-26}}</ref> After retiring from UDCT in 1957, he became the third director of the [[National Chemical Laboratory]] (NCL), [[Pune]], the first Indian director to hold the post.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ncl-india.org/files/AboutNCL/HistoryMilestones/1950_1959.aspx?menuid=ql4&childmenustripid=divSubQL4|title=CSIR- National Chemical Laboratory|website=www.ncl-india.org|access-date=2017-05-26}}</ref> He served as the director of NCL until 1966, but continued his association with the laboratory eve after his retirement.<ref name="Krishnaswami Venkataraman (1901–1981)" />

Venkataraman married Shakunthala at the age of nineteen when his bride was only fourteen.<ref name="Krishnaswami Venkataraman (1901–1981)" /> The couple had one daughter, [[Dharma Kumar]], who went on to become a noted [[economic historian]].<ref name="The last liberal">{{Cite news |url=http://www.thehindu.com/mag/2001/11/04/stories/2001110400120200.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020825192940/http://thehindu.com/mag/2001/11/04/stories/2001110400120200.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=25 August 2002 |title=The last liberal |date=4 November 2001 |work=[[The Hindu]] |access-date=2018-05-22}}</ref> [[Lovraj Kumar]], an Indian civil servant and a former secretary of the ministries of [[Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas|Petroleum and Natural Gas]] and [[Ministry of Steel|Steel]], was his son-in-law and [[Radha Kumar]], a noted author, historian, feminist and academic was his granddaughter.<ref name="Obituary: Lovraj Kumar">{{Cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-lovraj-kumar-1367199.html |title=Obituary: Lovraj Kumar |date=1994-04-01 |work=The Independent |access-date=2018-05-22 |language=en-GB}}</ref> Venkataraman died on 12 May 1981 at New Delhi, survived by his wife and daughter.<ref name="Krishnaswami Venkataraman (1901–1981)" />

== Scientific and professional contributions ==
One of the major scientific achievements of Venkataraman was his experiments with [[Acetophenone|2-acetoxyacetophenones]] when he demonstrated, along with [[Wilson Baker]], and English organic chemist, that the compound transformed into [[Dibenzoylmethane|o-hydroxydibenzoylmethanes]] and finally to [[flavones]] which later came to be known as [[Baker-Venkataraman transformation]].<ref name="INSA :: Deceased Fellow Detail">{{Cite web |url=http://www.insaindia.res.in/detail/N39-0866 |title=INSA :: Deceased Fellow Detail |date=2018-05-22 |website=www.insaindia.res.in |access-date=2018-05-22}}</ref><ref name="387. Synthetical experiments in the chromone group. Part XIV. The action of sodamide on 1-acyloxy-2-acetonaphthones">{{Cite journal |last1=Mahal |first1=Harbhajan S. |last2=Venkataraman |first2=Krishnasami |date=1934 |title=387. Synthetical experiments in the chromone group. Part XIV. The action of sodamide on 1-acyloxy-2-acetonaphthones |url=http://xlink.rsc.org/?DOI=jr9340001767 |journal=Journal of the Chemical Society (Resumed) |language=en |pages=1767–1769 |doi=10.1039/jr9340001767 |issn=0368-1769|url-access=subscription }}</ref> This process, a variant of [[Allan–Robinson reaction]], is in use for the synthesis of flavones and [[chromones]]. Through his experiments with [[Artocarpus heterophyllus]], commonly known as Jackfruit, he was able to isolate artocarpanone, a [[tyrosinase]] inhibitor, as well as eight flavones and later, he isolated similar flavones from [[Morus alba]] (White Mulberry). These experiments helped establish the [[taxonomical]] relationship between the two species.<ref name="Krishnaswami Venkataraman (1901–1981)" />{{Refn|group=note|Page 152}}

Shortly after the [[World War II|Second World War]], Venkataraman was invited for a visit [[IG Farben]], a German [[dyestuff]] manufacturing company, and this gave him an opportunity to study the international dyestuff industry.<ref name="Krishnaswami Venkataraman (1901–1981)" />{{Refn|group=note|Page 154}} He collected data which was later copied and published as an 8-volume book, ''The Chemistry of Synthetic Dyes'', which is considered by many as a seminal work on dye chemistry.<ref name="The Chemistry of Synthetic Dyes. Volume 1 (Venkataraman, K.) Book Review -1 ">{{Cite journal |last=Atkinson |first=Edward R. |date=1952 |title=The Chemistry of Synthetic Dyes. Volume 1 (Venkataraman, K.) |journal=Journal of Chemical Education |language=EN |volume=29 |issue=8 |pages=426 |doi=10.1021/ed029p426.3 |issn=0021-9584|bibcode=1952JChEd..29..426A |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="The Chemistry of Synthetic Dyes, Vols. I and II. K. Venkataraman. New York: Academic Press, 1952. 1442 pp. Illus. $29.00 for set of 2 vols">{{Cite journal |last=Brode |first=Wallace R. |date=1953-12-18 |title=The Chemistry of Synthetic Dyes, Vols. I and II. K. Venkataraman. New York: Academic Press, 1952. 1442 pp. Illus. $29.00 for set of 2 vols |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.118.3077.757.b |journal=Science |language=en |volume=118 |issue=3077 |pages=757 |doi=10.1126/science.118.3077.757-a |issn=0036-8075|bibcode=1953Sci...118..757B |url-access=subscription }}</ref> He also submitted a report to the Government of India for the development of dyestuff and intermediaries industry in India, known as the ''Pai/Venkataraman report'' which paved way for the development of the industry in the country, earning him the moniker, the ''father of the Indian dyestuff industry''.<ref name="Chemistry Tree - Krishnaswami Venkataraman">{{Cite web |url=https://academictree.org/chemistry/peopleinfo.php?pid=687595 |title=Chemistry Tree - Krishnaswami Venkataraman |date=2018-05-22 |website=academictree.org |access-date=2018-05-22}}</ref>

Another of Venkataraman's contributions was his work on [[Lac (resin)|lac pigments]].<ref name="INSA :: Deceased Fellow Detail" /> He focused his research on the chemistry of laccaic acid and later on other [[anthraquinonoid]] insect pigments. With the help of his findings, he ''proposed revised structures for [[kermesic acid]] and ceroalbolinic acid''.{{Refn|group=note|Quoted directly from source}} He was the first scientist in India to use [[X-ray crystallography|X-ray crystallographers]] for finding solutions to problems of organic structure.<ref name="Father of dyestuff research" />

During his tenure at UDCT, Venkataraman was instrumental in starting several courses chemical technology, combining pure science and technology.<ref name="Father of dyestuff research" /> He guided around 85 students in their doctoral research which included such notable chemists as [[Bal Dattatreya Tilak|B. D. Tilak]],<ref>{{cite web|last=Panse|first=G.T.|title=Bal Dattatreya Tilak Obituary |url=http://www.iisc.ernet.in/currsci/dec251999/articles33.htm |access-date=4 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040225173309/http://www.iisc.ernet.in/currsci/dec251999/articles33.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=25 February 2004 }}</ref><ref name="Abramovitch2009">{{cite book|author=R. A. Abramovitch|title=Pyridine and Its Derivatives, Supplement|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VCo7OJCKorUC&pg=PA615|date=15 September 2009|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-0-470-18816-3|pages=615–}}</ref> B. S. Joshi,<ref name="B.S. Joshi's scientific contributions">{{Cite web |url=https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/2126940790_BS_Joshi |title=B.S. Joshi's scientific contributions |date=2018-05-22 |website=ResearchGate |language=en |access-date=2018-05-22}}</ref> [[Nitya Anand]] and [[A. V. Rama Rao]].<ref name="Krishnaswami Venkataraman (1901–1981)" />{{Refn|group=note|Page 155}} His contributions are reported in the development of National Chemical Laboratory into one of World's leading research centre in dyestuff chemistry.<ref name="INSA :: Deceased Fellow Detail" /> He sat in the editorial boards of many journals, which included [[Tetrahedron (journal)|''Tetrahedron'']], ''[[Tetrahedron Letters]]'' and ''Indian Journal of Chemistry''. Besides ''The Chemistry of Synthetic Dyes'', he also edited another 612-page book, ''The Analytical Chemistry of Synthetic Dyes''<ref name="The Analytical chemistry of synthetic dyes">{{Cite book |title=The Analytical chemistry of synthetic dyes |date=1977 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=978-0471905752 |location=New York |oclc=2542360}}</ref> and these nine books remain reference texts in the discipline.<ref name="Book Review: The Analytical Chemistry of Synthetic Dyes. Edited by K. Venkataraman">{{Cite journal |last=Augart |first=Dietmar |date=1978 |title=Book Review: The Analytical Chemistry of Synthetic Dyes. Edited by K. Venkataraman |journal=Angewandte Chemie International Edition in English |language=en |volume=17 |issue=2 |pages=139 |doi=10.1002/anie.197801391 |issn=0570-0833}}</ref> Besides, he also published 271 scientific articles.<ref name="Krishnaswami Venkataraman - NeglectedScience">{{Cite web |url=http://www.neglectedscience.com/alphabetical-list/v/krishnaswami-venkataraman |title=Krishnaswami Venkataraman - NeglectedScience |date=2018-05-22 |website=www.neglectedscience.com |access-date=2018-05-22}}</ref>

Venkataraman served as the president of the [[Indian Academy of Sciences]] for three terms (1943–46, 1949–55, 1965–67) and as the vice president from 1952 to 1955.<ref name="Fellow profile - Indian Academy of Sciences">{{Cite web |url=https://www.ias.ac.in/describe/fellow/Venkataraman,__Krishnasami |title=Fellow profile - Indian Academy of Sciences |date=2018-05-22 |website=www.ias.ac.in |language=en |access-date=2018-05-22}}</ref> He also served as the vice president of the [[Indian National Science Academy]].<ref name="INSA :: Deceased Fellow Detail" />

== Awards ==
Venkataraman was elected a fellow of the [[Chemical Society]] (FCS) in 1932,<ref>{{cite journal |author= |date=1932 |title=Proceedings of the Chemical Society: Ordinary Scientific Meeting |journal=Journal of the Chemical Society (Resumed) |volume= |issue= |pages=A001–A097 |doi=10.1039/JR93200BA001}}</ref> which became the [[Royal Society of Chemistry]] in 1980. He was elected a founding fellow of the [[Indian Academy of Sciences]] (FASc) in 1934,<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.ias.ac.in/listing/fellows/deceased |title=Fellowship - Indian Academy of Sciences |date=2018-05-22 |website=www.ias.ac.in |language=en |access-date=2018-05-22}}</ref> and as a Fellow of the National Institute of Sciences of India (FNI, now the [[Indian National Science Academy]] in 1939.{{refn|Prior to 1970, the [[Indian National Science Academy]] was named the "National Institute of Sciences of India", and its fellows bore the post-nominal "FNI". The post-nominal became "FNA" in 1970 when the association adopted its present name.|group= n}} <ref name="INSA :: Biographical Memoirs">{{Cite web |url=http://insaindia.res.in/bm.php |title=INSA :: Biographical Memoirs |website=insaindia.res.in |access-date=2017-05-26}}</ref> He was also a fellow of the [[National Academy of Sciences, India]] (FNASc).<ref name="INSA :: Biographical Memoirs"/> In 1960, [[Academy of Sciences Leopoldina]] elected him as a member.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.leopoldina.org/de/mitglieder/mitgliederverzeichnis/member/5336/|title=Mitgliederverzeichnis|website=www.leopoldina.org|language=de|access-date=2017-05-26}}</ref> He was also a fellow of the [[Prussian Academy of Sciences]], [[USSR Academy of Sciences]], and the [[Polish Academy of Sciences]].<ref name="INSA :: Deceased Fellow Detail" />

The Government of India awarded Venkataraman the third highest civilian award of the [[Padma Bhushan]] in 1961.<ref name=":0" /> He received the Professor T. R. Seshadri 60th birthday commemoration medal in 1973.<ref name="INSA :: Awards Recipients">{{Cite web |url=http://www.insaindia.res.in/recipients.php#ptr |title=INSA :: Awards Recipients |date=2018-05-22 |website=www.insaindia.res.in |access-date=2018-05-22}}</ref> He was also a recipient of the [[Prafulla Chandra Rây|Acharya P.C. Ray Medal]] of the [[Indian Chemical Society]].<ref name="INSA :: Deceased Fellow Detail" />

== Bibliography ==
* {{cite book|author=Krishnasami Venkataraman|title=The Chemistry of Synthetic Dyes - Volume 1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6MjZ7y_IsVYC|year=1952|publisher=Academic Press|isbn=9780127170015}}
* {{cite book|author=Krishnasami Venkataraman|title=The chemistry of synthetic dyes - Volume II|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ITRMtAEACAAJ|year=1969|publisher=Acad. Press|isbn=9780127170022}}
* {{cite book|author=Krishnasami Venkataraman|title=The chemistry of synthetic dyes - Vol III|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DxD85Z9_PG8C|year=1978|publisher=Academic Press|isbn=9780127170046}}
* {{Cite book |title=The Chemistry of Synthetic Dyes Volume IV |last=K. |first=Venkataraman |date=1971 |publisher=Elsevier Science |isbn=9780323145701 |location=Oxford}}
* {{Cite book |title=The chemistry of synthetic dyes. Volume V |date=1971 |publisher=Academic Press |isbn=9780323142953 |location=New York }}
* {{Cite book |title=The chemistry of synthetic dyes Volume VI|date=1972 |publisher=Academic Press |isbn=9780323148597 |location=New York}}
* {{cite book|author=Krishnasami Venkataraman|title=The chemistry of synthetic dyes Volume VII|year=1974|publisher=Academic Press|isbn=978-0-12-717007-7|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/chemistryofsynth0008venk}}
* {{Cite book |title=The Analytical chemistry of synthetic dyes |date=1977 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=978-0471905752 |location=New York |oclc=2542360}}
* {{Cite book |title=The chemistry of synthetic dyes Volume VIII |date=1978 |publisher=Academic Press |isbn=9780323149372 |location=New York |oclc=849921776}}

==See also==
{{Div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Subramania Ranganathan]]
* [[T. R. Govindachari]]
{{div col end}}
{{portal|India}}

== Notes ==
{{reflist|group=note|2}}

{{reflist|group=n}}

==References==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

== Further reading ==
* {{Cite journal |last=Nagendrappa |first=G. |date=2004-12-01 |title=An epitome of K Venkataraman's chemistry |journal=Resonance |language=en |volume=9 |issue=12 |pages=45–51 |doi=10.1007/BF02834306 |s2cid=56234414 |issn=0971-8044|url=http://eprints-bangaloreuniversity.in/5566/1/nagappa.pdf }}
* {{Cite journal |last=Nagendrappa |first=G. |date=2004-12-01 |title=K Venkataraman a biographical sketch |journal=Resonance |language=en |volume=9 |issue=12 |pages=3–5 |doi=10.1007/BF02834301 |s2cid=123449690 |issn=0971-8044}}

{{PadmaBhushanAwardRecipients 1960–69}}{{Institute of Chemical Technology vice-chancellors|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Venkataraman, Krishnaswami}}
[[Category:1901 births]]
[[Category:1981 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian organic chemists]]
[[Category:Tamil chemists]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in science & engineering]]
[[Category:Members of the Prussian Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian chemists]]
[[Category:Scientists from Chennai]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Chemistry]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Indian National Science Academy]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Indian Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:University of Madras alumni]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Manchester]]
[[Category:D. Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology of Russia alumni]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the Forman Christian College]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the University of Mumbai]]
[[Category:Foreign members of the USSR Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Members of the Polish Academy of Sciences]]

Krishnasami Venkataraman - Revision history

Dentaltrendz at 06:25, 5 March 2026