Amiya Charan Banerjee (23 January 1891 – 31 May 1968) was a mathematician and educator popularly known as A.C.Banerjee or simply as Professor Banerjee.

Family background

His father Gyan Chandra Banerjee was a meritorious student of Presidency College and was a class mate of Narendranath Dutta (later Swami Vivekananda

Swami Vivekananda

Swami Vivekananda , born Narendranath Dutta , was the chief disciple of the 19th century mystic Ramakrishna Paramahansa and the founder of the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission...

) when they studied law. He belonged to the zemindar family of Maheshtala

Maheshtala

Maheshtala is a city and a municipality under Maheshtala, Thakurpukur, Metiaburuz and Behala police stations of Alipore sadar subdivision in South 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal.-Demographics:...

 in 24 Parganas district, now in West Bengal. While a student he was attracted to the Brahmo Samaj

Brahmo Samaj

Brahmo Samaj is the societal component of the Brahmo religion which is mainly practiced today as the Adi Dharm after its eclipse in Bengal consequent to the exit of the Tattwabodini Sabha from its ranks in 1859. It was one of the most influential religious movements responsible for the making of...

, after listening to some of the speeches of Keshub Chunder Sen

Keshub Chandra Sen

Keshab Chandra Sen was an Indian Bengali religious preacher and social reformer. Born a Hindu, he became a member of the Brahmo Samaj in 1856 but founded his own breakaway "Brahmo Samaj of India" in 1866 while the Brahmo Samaj remained under the leadership of Maharshi Debendranath Tagore...

. When he converted to Brahmo Samaj, his father tried to get him back to the house by force but when he failed to do so, he disinherited him. He joined the judicial service in Bihar and lived an independent life undeterred by what others thought and did. He married Mrinalini, daughter of the Brahmo leader Nibaran Chandra Mukherjee

Nibaran Chandra Mukherjee

- Life with the Brahmo Samaj :Nibaran Chandra Mukherjee joined the Brahmo Samaj at an early age and was ostracised by his family for this decision. He left his ancestral home in Hughli and settled down in Bhagalpur...

.

Education

Amiya Charan Banerjee was born on 23 January 1891 in his maternal grandfather’s house at Bhagalpur. As his father had a transferable job, he was educated mostly at Bhagalpur Zilla School. He stood first in the matriculation examination and joined Presidency College, Kolkata

Presidency College, Kolkata

Presidency University, Kolkata, formerly Hindu College and Presidency College, is a unitary, state aided university, located in Kolkata, West Bengal. and one of the premier institutes of learning of liberal arts and sciences in India. In 2002 it was ranked number one by the weekly news magazine...

. He was all through a topper and on completing his post graduation in mathematics, won a Bihar Government scholarship to go to England. He became a Wrangler and foundation scholar from Clare College, Cambridge

Clare College, Cambridge

Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1326, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. Clare is famous for its chapel choir and for its gardens on "the Backs"...

.

Nilamani Senapati, a fellow student at Cambridge, and later his brother-in-law and chief secretary of Orissa, described him as being called ‘Father Banerjee’ at Cambridge for his most amiable nature.

Achievements

On his return to the country, he spent some time in Patna

Patna

Paṭnā , is the capital of the Indian state of Bihar and the second largest city in Eastern India . Patna is one of the oldest continuously inhabited places in the world...

 but as there was no suitable post vacant for him, he went to Allahabad

Allahabad

Allahabad , or Settled by God in Persian, is a major city of India and is one of the main holy cities of Hinduism. It was renamed by the Mughals from the ancient name of Prayaga , and is by some accounts the second-oldest city in India. It is located in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh,...

 and started his teaching career as a professor. Allahabad University

Allahabad University

Allahabad University , is a premier Central University located in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India. Its origins lie in the Muir Central College, named after Lt...

 was a great centre of learning, buzzing with scientists such as Megh Nad Saha and Nil Ratan Dhar. Prof. Banerjee made notable contributions in the field of astro-physics

Astro-Physics

Note: This article is about the telescope maker. For the scientific discipline, see astrophysics.Astro-Physics, Inc., a manufacturer of amateur telescopes, mounts, and accessories, was founded by Roland Christen in 1975, and is noted for their line of apochromatic refractors....

 and galactic dynamics. He was vice-chancellor of Allahabad University from 1953-55. He was examiner for doctoral thesis for several universities in India and abroad, and went abroad a number of times on lecture tours. Government of India had assigned to him a project for studying the observatories in Europe and America and for recommending improvements of Indian observatories. On retirement he helped to develop Sri Chaitanya College at Habra

Habra

Habra is a city, a municipality and a police station of Barasat sadar subdivision in North 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is an administrative subdivision. Habra is situated on the Jessore Road between Kolkata and the Bangladesh border at Petrapole...

 in West Bengal. He presided over the All India Brahmo Conference held in 1957.

Prof. Banerjee was nominated president of the 56th session of the Indian Science Congress to be held at Mumbai

Mumbai

Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...

 in 1969 but he died prematurely on 31 May 1968.

He used to deliver lectures on astronomy. He spoke on “Stellar Evolution” at the Allahabad session of the Indian Academy of Sciences in 1946.

The road in front of his house in Allahabad was named after him.

Marriage, Children and Grandchildren

He had married Probha, daughter of Braja Kumar and Chanchala Niyogi of Hazaribagh in 1920. She was actively involved in social welfare activities, was a commissioner of Allahabad municipality and was a woman magistrate, who held court at home.

His elder son Kalyan Banerji died prematurely on 4th June 1975 when he was deputy managing director of State Bank of India. His daughter, Arati, was married to N.R.Dutt, a successful business manager in the steel industry. She died on 9th July 2010. Milon Banerji

Milon K. Banerji

Milon Kumar Banerji was an Indian jurist who was Attorney General of India from 1992 to 1996 and again from 2004 to 2009. He was also Solicitor General from 1986 to 1989. He died on July 20, 2010 after a long illness, having suffered a stroke in December 2009. He was 82.-References:...

, Attorney General

Indian Attorney General

The Attorney General for India is the Indian government's chief legal advisor, and its primary lawyer in the Supreme Court of India.The Attorney General for India is appointed by the President of India under Article 76 of the Constitution of India and holds office during the pleasure of the President...

 of India, was his younger son who died on 16th July 2010. His grandson, Pradeep Banerji - son of Kalyan Banerji - graduated from Columbia University

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

, New York, and is presently based in London as a successful professional in the IT industry.