Google Doodle marks Asima Chatterjee's birth anniversary with her very own Google Doodle
Google today celebrates Asima Chatterjee's birth anniversary with a doodle that marks the immense contribution she made in the fields of organic chemistry and phytomedicine. The doodle very aptly shows a smiling Asima Chatterjee coloured in green and the Google logo designed to resemble chemical bonds. Asima Chatterjee was born on the 23rd of September, 1917 in what is modern-day Kolkata in West Bengal. She enrolled at Scottish Church College of the University of Calcutta and graduated with honours in chemistry in 1936. This was during a time when it was very unusual for women to study chemistry.
After she completed her master's in organic chemistry from the University of Calcutta in 1938, she completed her doctoral degree in 1944. She focused on synthetic organic chemistry and the chemistry of plant products for her doctoral research. Asima Chatterjee's contribution to the field of organic chemistry could perhaps not have been possible without the tutelage of eminent instructors like Prafulla Chandra Roy and SN Bose.
Asima Chatterjee later went on to join the Lady Brabourne College in the University of Calcutta in 1940 as the founding head of the department of chemistry. She was the second woman to be conferred a Doctorate of Science by an Indian university.
Apart from this, Asima Chatterjee has under her belt, a vast array of fields she immensely contributed to. One of the most significant areas of research that she conducted was in the field of vinca alkaloids, used today in chemotherapy in slowing down cancer cells from multiplying.
Asima Chatterjee's contributions resulted in rewards in the form of many accolades, including but not limited to receiving the Padma Bhushan. She also became the first woman to be appointed the general president of the Indian Science Congress.
To mark her contributions and celebrate her accolades, Google commemorates Asima Chatterjee with her very own Google Doodle.