By Sumi Khan

Dhaka, Aug 3 (IANS): Bangladesh marked the 159th birth anniversary of eminent scientist and philosopher Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray.

Ray was born in the village of Raruli-Katipara under Paikgachha upazila in Khulna on August 2, 1861.

On Sunday, admirers paid their respects at a program held portrait in the village.

The program had a limited capacity considering the prevailing coronavirus situation.

Terming Ray as a social reformer, the attendees recalled the life and works of the genious scientist, philosopher and philanthropist.

Following an education in Kolkata, Ray won a Gilchrist Scholarship to study in Britain in the 1880s, where he met Jagadish Chandra Bose and Satyaranjan Das.

He was elected Vice-President of the University of Edinburgh Chemical Society in 1887.

A year later, he returned to India.

Ray was awarded the Hope Prize which allowed him to work on his research for a further period of one year after completion of his doctorate.

His thesis was titled, "Conjugated Sulphates of the Copper-magnesium Group: A Study of Isomorphous Mixtures and Molecular Combinations".

Nobel laureate William Ramsay congratulated him for his achievement.