Prof. Arun Kumar Sharma

Born : December 31, 1924 Died : July 6, 2017

Professor Arun Kumar Sharma, DSc, FNA, FNASc, FTWAS, the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of The Nucleus, an International, premier scientific journal in the advancement and awareness of knowledge on chromosome research, was a complete botanist and geneticist with a strong command on taxonomy, evolutionary and developmental biology of land plants. He was the Founder Programme Coordinator of the Centre of Advanced Study in Cell and Chromosome Research in the Department of Botany, CU; former Sir Rash Behari Ghosh Professor, Head of the Department of Botany at the University of Calcutta; Jawaharlal Nehru Fellow; National Professor of the University Grants Commission; President of various scientific bodies including Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi (1983-84); National Academy of Sciences India, Allahabad (2011-12); Indian Science Congress Association (Varanasi, 1981); a distinguished alumnus and an accomplished and venerated teacher of the Department of Botany, University of Calcutta. He was the Founder President of Archana Sharma Foundation of Calcutta.

Academic and Research Achievements :

Popularly known as ‘AKS’ among his peers and referred to as ‘Sir’ by his students and colleagues, he was born on 31st December 1924 in Calcutta to father Charu Chandra Sharma and mother Shovamoyee. He obtained BSc in 1943 with ‘half free scholarship’, MSc in 1945 and DSc in 1955 from the University of Calcutta. After brief stint at the Botanical Survey of India, AKS joined the Department of Botany, University of Calcutta as a full-time temporary teacher in 1947, full time Assistant Lecturer in 1948, and rose to the positions of Lecturer and Reader, and was appointed as Sir Rash Behari Ghosh Professor and Head of the Department of Botany at the University of Calcutta (1969 - 1980) and continued as Ghosh Professor until 1988.

An internationally acclaimed cytotaxonomist, cytogeneticist and cytochemist, Professor Sharma attained scientific expertise researching throughout in India, without going abroad for any formal training. As a cytogeneticist, he had the conviction that the study of chromosomes should not be confined to just meristematic tissues; instead, every organ should be targeted to understand the structure and behaviour of chromosomes. In pursuance of his conviction, he developed several laboratory techniques for the study of chromosomes from mature and differentiating tissues, leading to the conceptual information on chromosome dynamism in situ, polytenic and tandem duplication of chromosomes during development and differentiation, and a new concept of speciation in asexually reproducing species through fixity of chromosome number in differentiating meristems. Exhaustive data produced by his group on chromosome number and morphology across vast range of taxa served as adjunct to the contemporary systems of classification through tools of cytotaxonomy in resolving problems of taxonomic disputes.

From a modest training in cytology under Professor PN Bhaduri for his MSc thesis, he sustained his interest in chromosome research and conducted studies on a wide range of problems of plant and human genetics leading to an active school of cytogenetics, cytotaxonomy and cytochemistry at the University of Calcutta. Among his innumerable contributions in cytogenetics, the most sparkling ones stood out to be innovation in techniques for studying structure and behavior of chromosomes in animals, plants and human being, chromosome dynamism during speciation and chromosome behavior in differentiated cells, expanding the horizon of chromosome studies to areas of its genetic, molecular, cell culture, genetic toxicology and population genetics angles. An extended account of his scientific contributions and personal attributes has earlier been published in 2014 under the elite series ‘Living Legends in Indian Science’ Current Science. 107: 522-528, 2014, and can be reached at http://www.currentscience.ac.in/Volumes/107/03/0522.pdf

AKS had exceptional courage and conviction at the young age of 33 to start an international journal of cytology and allied topics along with Professor (Mrs.) Archana Sharma – The Nucleus (1958). The aim of the journal was to highlight all aspects of chromosome research, physical and chemical, structural and functional in eukaryotes. The journal was inaugurated in August 1958 at the International Congress of Genetics at Montreal and was attended by almost all members of the advisory board namely Professors B. P. Kaufmann, H. Kihara, A. Löve, F. Oehlkers, H. P. Riley, M. J. Sirks and J. H. Taylor. In later years, Professor J. Caspersson, Professor C.D. Darlington and Professor R. Haynes became members of the advisory board and remained so till their demise.

Professor Sharma authored (jointly with his wife Archana Sharma) the classic reference book Chromosome Techniques: Theory and Practice (Butterworth & Co. Ltd, London, 1965) that went into 2nd and 3rd editions in 1972 and 1980. The book has been extensively used throughout the world. Few other books jointly authored / edited by both of them are: Chromosomes in Evolution of Eukaryotic Groups. Vol I and II, CRC Press Inc., Boca Ratan, Florida, 1983 and 1984 respectively; Advances in Chromosome and Cell Genetics. Oxford and IBH Publishing Co. New Delhi, 1985, 1989; Chromosome Technique - A Manual. Harwood Academic Publishers, Switzerland, 1994; Plant Chromosomes - Analysis, Manipulation and Engineering. Harwood Academic Publishers, Switzerland, 1999; Methods in Cell Science. Vol 23 (No. 1-3) Special issue; Chromosome Painting – Principles, Strategies and Scope. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston, 2001; Plant Genome – Biodiversity and Evolution, Vol 1-7. Science Publishers, Enfield (NH), UK, 2008 etc.

Awards and Honours :

He had photogenic memory and remained active till the end completing in the process revision of the 11 volume edited series on History of Science in India jointly published by the National Academy of Sciences India, Allahabad and the Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Kolkata, in 2014. He penned the Editorial for the August 2017 issue of The Nucleus on 14th June 2017 just three weeks prior to his heavenly abode. A celebrated bio-scientist and acclaimed cytogeneticist he had several distinguished professional honors to his credit and feathers in his cap including the coveted Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and the 3rd highest civilian honor “Padma Bhushan” conferred on him by the Government of India.

Besides his own research activities on various domains of plant science, he had significantly contributed to the policy, planning and formulation of scientific and technical programs for different Universities as well as the Government of India for the growth of science and technology in India. He commanded extraordinary leadership qualities and oratorical skills befitting a true leader constantly inspiring peers, colleagues and students alike as a team leader. He always appreciated constructive difference for the sake of the best.

He had a great faith in superpowers of God, and was a strong follower of Ramakrishna Paramhansa and Swami Vivekanada. He was very closely associated with the Ramakrishna Mission and was the Vice President of the Governing Body of the Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Golpark, Kolkata, India and the Chairman of the Ethical Committee of the Vivekananda Institute of Medical Sciences, Ramakrishna Mission Seva Pratisthan, Kolkata, India. His dedication to duty and sense of detachment are strongly influenced by his long association with the Ramakrishna Mission. In his final years he donated all his material assets for the benefit of weaker sections and lived in the Guest House of the Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Kolkata.

The scientific community of India in general and the botanical fraternity in particular, shall remain indebted to his multifarious guidance in nurturing the young talent and facilitating development of scientific infrastructure across the biological and environmental disciplines.