Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman (चन्द्रशेखर वेङ्कट रामन्) (November 7, 1888-November 21, 1970) was an Indian physicist. He was born in Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu. At an early age Raman moved to the city of Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. He completed his BA and MA in Physics and English from the Presidency College, Madras (now Chennai). He joined the Indian Civil Services as an Assistant Accountant General in Calcutta (now Kolkata).
Raman was a professor of Physics at the Calcutta University for the next fifteen years. It was here that his work on optics got recognized.
Raman won the 1930 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the scattering of light and for the discovery of the Raman effect. Raman spectroscopy, based on his effect is also named after him. It was the first time that an Indian scholar who studied wholly in India received the Nobel Prize. An interesting anecdote goes that he was offered a toast during the Nobel function. Being a strict teetotaller he responded, "Sir! You have seen the Raman effect on alcohol! Please do not try to see the alcohol effect on Raman."
In 1934, Raman became director of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. In 1948, he established the Raman Research Institute.
He was knighted in 1929 and awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1954.
CV Raman is the uncle of Nobel Prize Physics winner Dr. Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar.
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Last updated: 05-21-2005 19:38:40
