Ram Nath Chopra

August 17, 1983

A commemorative postage stamp on Colonel Sir Ramnath Chopra, Father of Indian Pharmacology :

Issued by India

Issued on Aug 17, 1983

Type : Stamp, Postal Used

Colour : Single colour

Denomination : 50 Paise

Printed at : India Security Press

Name : Ram Nath Chopra

Born on Aug 17, 1882 at Gujranwala, Punjab Province, British India [now in Pakistan]

Died on Jun 13, 1973 at Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India

About :

Sir Ram Nath Chopra, acclaimed today as the Father of Pharmacology in India, was born on August 17, 1882. He obtained the degree of M.D. (Medicine) for his original work on experimental pharmacology at the Cambridge University in 1908, after which he returned to India to take up a medical career.
Chopra was appointed the first Professor of Pharmacology in the newly established Calcutta School of Tropical Medicine in 1921, while simultaneously heading the Department of Pharmacology in a Postgraduate Research Institute (viz. the Calcutta School of Tropical Medicine) and in an Undergraduate Teaching Centre (viz. Calcutta Medical College), afforded him an excellent opportunity for placing Pharmacology on the ‘medical map’ of India. In doing so, Chopra not only inspired a number of promising Indian scientists to take up Pharmacology as a career but also encouraged them to undertake scientific studies on Indian herbal remedies.
The very first introduction and systematic study of the now well-known herb – Rauwolfia serpentina (i.e. Sarpagandha of Ayurveda) was possible due to Chopra’s original researches at the School of Tropical Medicine, Calcutta.
Among Chopra‘s many publications, Indigenous Drugs of India, Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants, Poisonous Plants of India and Drug Addiction in India, are considered as monumental contributions to Indian Pharmacology and are being used even today as reference works. Due to Chopra‘s untiring efforts, the first Indian Pharmacopeia, compiled in 1955, incorporated some indigenous drugs studied at the School of Tropical Medicine.