Dr. Vikram A. Sarabhat (1919 - 1971)

Dr. Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai was the father of India's Space Programme. A man of indefatigable energy, Dr. Sarabhai left his impression varied fields of human endeavour. In his career of 24 years, he was responsible for creating more than 25 institutions which included science and technology based research institutes, educational and management institutes and a chain of industrial enterprises. He was one of those rare men who combined the best of science and commerce.

Born at Ahmedabad on 12th August, 1919. he had his early education in the family school directed by his mother Saraladevi Sarabhai. Dr. Sarabhai completed his school examination and joined Gujarat College, Ahmedabad for higher studies. Thereafter he joined St. John's College. Cambridge (U. K.) and in 1939 took his Tripods in Natural Science. On return to India, he took up research in Cosmic Ray Physics at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and worked under the inspiring guidance of the great scientist Sir C.V. Raman, N. L. This was a culminating period in his life making a strong base for his unique career and happy family life. After the war was over, he went to Cambridge again and conducted research in Photo-fission at Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge. In 1947, he received a doctorate from Cambridge with a thesis on "Cosmic Ray Investigation in Tropical Latitudes."

After the completion of post-graduate and post-doctorate research in 1950 and until the time he left his industrial interests in 1966 to join the Atomic Energy commission, he was responsible for the development of quite a few industrial enterprises. He created a number of industries in Baroda, namely, Sarabhai Chemicals. Sarabhai Glass, Suhrid Geigy Limited, Synbiotics Ltd., Sarabhai Merk Limited and Sarabhai Engineering Group. In Ahmedabad, he set up an Operations Research Group known as ORG (now located in Baroda), and a Research Organization for investigation of natural and synthetic medicinal products (Sarabhai Research Centre, Baroda). In Bombay, he took up the management of the Swastic Oil Mills introducing new developments in the field of oil extraction, synthetic detergents and cosmetics. In Calcutta, he took over the management of the Standard Pharmaceuticals Ltd. in which he introduced large scale manufacture of Penicillin, besides increasing the range of pharmaceutical products.

He founded the Ahmedabad Textile Industry's Research Association (ATIRA) and did everything possible to build it up as the useful adjunct to the developing textile industry in Ahmedabad. He worked as its first Honorary Director upto 1956. Management was another interest of Dr. Sarabhai. Feeling the great need for professional management in India he founded the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad in 1962. This Institute he headed as its Honorary Director up to 1965. Between 1947 and 1965 he directed his purposive mind to the founding and thereafter fostering the Physical Research Laboratory for developing scientific research in India and this was his signal creation of a Scientific institute of great eminence in India.

In 1962, Dr. Sarabhai took over the responsibility of organizing space research in India and became the Chairman of the Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR) for setting up the Thumba Equatorial Rocked Launching Station and initiated a programme for the manufacture of French Centaur sounding rockets in India. He was the moving spirit behind the manufacture of Indian Rockets at Thumba "Rohini" and "Menaka" are among the Rockets produced there. In 1966, he was appointed Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission and Secretary, to the Government of India. He was president of Physics Section of the Indian Science Congress held in 1962; Chairman of Electronics Committee, Union Deptt. of Defence Supplies, and Electronics Corporation of India besides being member of various important national and international Committees. He was Fellow of Indian Academy of Sciences, National Institute of Sciences of India, Physical Society, London and Cambridge Philosophical Society.

As a mark of appreciation of his work, he was awarded in 1962 the Shanti Swaroop Memorial Award for Physics and he was also honoured with the award of Padma Bhushan in 1966 by the Government of India.

This great scientist of the country, widely recognized internationally in space and nuclear research, expired prematurely on December 30, 1971 while visiting Thumba Rocket Launching Station.

His wife Smt. Mrinalini Sarabhai is an outstanding and distinguished classical dancer and promotes the performing art of dance through her famed institution Darpan. His son Shri Kartikeya Sarabhai is a leading industrialist of the country at Ahmedabad.

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