Dr. Panchanan Mitra

Born:25 May 1892

Died:25 July 1936

He was the first professor of anthropologyin India.
He was among the first Indians to study at Yale University and conducted several anthropological expeditions in India and abroad.
He was the head of the Department of Anthropology of the University of Calcutta and is most known for his works Prehistoric India (1923), History of Ameri-can Anthropology (1930) and Indo-Poly-nesian Memories (1933).
He was awarded the Fellowship of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland and today the Asiatic Society awards an annual ‘Panchanan Mitra Memorial Lectureship’ for outstanding contributions to anthropology.
He was the first Professor of Anthropology at the University of Calcutta, and received the “Bishop Museum Fellowship” in 1924 for studying “Polynesian affinities with India”.
He was the first Indian to obtain a PhD from Yale University, USA in the year 1930.
He was awarded several medals and fellowships during his lifetime and was a member of several professional bodies.
He was awarded the Fellowship of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland.
He was appointed as the Assistant Curator of the Archaeology section of the Indian Museum.
He was the Honorary Magistrate of Kolkata from 1922 to 1924 and later served as a councillor in the Municipal corporation of the city till 1927.