Celebrating Kamala Sohonie’s 112th Birthday: The Pioneering Indian Biochemist Honored by Google Doodle
Today, June 18th, marks the 112th birthday of the renowned biochemist Kamala Sohonie, who is being honored with a beautiful Google Doodle. Kamala Sohonie made significant discoveries in her field and is considered a trailblazer for Indian women in the realm of science. Her research focus is depicted in the Doodle.
The Google Doodle dedicated to Kamala Sohonie prominently features the biochemist, who gazes directly at the users. The portrayal is artistically well-executed and closely resembles Sohonie’s real-life appearance. In the Doodle, Kamala Sohonie replaces the second ‘o’, while the other letters appear at varying heights and in a distinct font style.
The empty spaces in the Doodle are filled with objects that played a significant role in Kamala Sohonie’s life: legumes, rice, a microscope, the palm extract Neera, and a related beverage. It is a fitting tribute to a great scientist who made a lasting impact both in India and worldwide. Her work on the nutritional benefits of the palm extract called “Neera” was inspired by a suggestion from then-President Rajendra Prasad. Kamala Sohonie received the Rashtrapati Award for this work.
111th or 112th Birthday?
According to all official sources, Kamala Sohonie was born on June 18, 1912. However, attentive readers may have noticed that Google is celebrating the scientist’s 112th birthday. According to family records, Kamala Sohonie was actually born on June 18, 1911. Ultimately, the exact year does not hold great significance, but it helps to clarify the confusion surrounding her age.
Official Description of the Google Doodle
Today’s Doodle celebrates the 112th birthday of Indian biochemist Dr. Kamala Sohonie. She was the first Indian woman to earn a doctorate in a scientific field at a time when Indian women were significantly underrepresented in scientific disciplines. By breaking barriers and proving her doubters wrong, Dr. Sohonie not only pioneered her field of biochemistry but also helped pave the way for future Indian women to overcome gender biases and achieve their dreams.
According to family records, Dr. Sohonie was born on this day in 1911 in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, to a family of esteemed chemists. To follow in the footsteps of her father and uncle, she studied chemistry and physics at Bombay University, graduating top of her class in 1933. She became the first woman to be admitted to the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), where she faced stringent restrictions in her first year – all because the director doubted women’s capabilities in science.
Dr. Sohonie proved her competence and was granted permission to continue her research. In fact, she impressed the director so much that the IISc began admitting more women into its program. Over the next few years, Sohonie investigated various proteins in legumes, concluding that they could improve children’s nutrition. In 1936, she published her thesis on this topic and earned her master’s degree.
A year later, she received a research scholarship at the University of Cambridge. Dr. Sohonie discovered cytochrome C, an enzyme essential for energy production, and determined that it is present in all plant cells. In just 14 months, she completed her dissertation on this finding and obtained her doctorate. Upon returning to India, Dr. Sohonie continued researching the benefits of certain foods and assisted in developing an affordable nutritional supplement made from palm nectar. This nutritious beverage, called Neera, is an excellent source of vitamin C and has been proven to improve the health of malnourished children and pregnant women.
Dr. Sohonie was awarded the Rashtrapati Award for her work on Neera. She also became the first female director of the Royal Institute of Science in Bombay.
Happy birthday, Dr. Kamala Sohonie!
