Sohonie, Kamala (1911–)
Sohonie, Kamala (1911–)
Indian biochemist. Born Kamala Bhagwat, July 18, 1911; University of Bombay, BS, 1933; University of Cambridge's Institute of Biochemistry, PhD, 1939; m. Madhav Sohonie, 1947.
The 1st Indian woman to earn a PhD in science and the 1st Indian woman to head a scientific research institute, successfully challenged Nobel Prize-winning physicist C. V. Raman and his policy of not accepting women at his Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, becoming its 1st female student and completing the course with distinction; at Cambridge, worked with Frederick Gowland Hopkins, a Nobel Prize winner; established, served as a director (1965–69) and taught (1949–69) at the Biochemistry Department at the Institute of Science in Mumbai; focused research interests on paddy flour's nutritive qualities, on palm juice biochemistry and on Indian legumes.