Asima Chatterjee

Asima Chatterjee (1917-2006) was an Indian organic chemist and the first woman to be awarded a Doctor of Science degree by an Indian university, earning her doctorate from the University of Calcutta in 1944. Her research focused on the chemistry of Indian medicinal plants, leading to the development of anti-epileptic and anti-malarial drugs derived from plant alkaloids, and she published extensively on the vinca alkaloids found in the periwinkle plant, compounds later important in cancer chemotherapy research. She went on to found the chemistry department at Lady Brabourne College in Calcutta and later chaired the chemistry department at the University of Calcutta, mentoring generations of Indian chemists. In 1975 she became the first woman elected general president of the Indian Science Congress Association.