Venkatraman Radhakrishnan

Born:18 May 1929

Died:3 March 2011

He was a space scientist and member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
He was professor emeritus of the Raman Research Institute in Bangalore, India, where he had been director from 1972 to 1994.
He was born in Tondiarpet, a suburb of Madras, to Nobel laureate physicist Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman and his wife Lokasundari Ammal.
His earlier schooling was in Madras.
He graduated from the Mysore University before joining the Department of Physics at the prestigious Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.
He was married to Mrs. Francoise-Dominique Barnard.
They have a son Vivek Radhakrishnan who studied design under the direction of Hella Jongerius, from the Design Academy Eindhoven, Netherlands.
In 2004, Vivek and his wife Namrata returned home to Bangalore to set up Kynkyny.
The company has two facets, Kynkyny Art, a gallery for contemporary Indian art, and Kynkyny Home, a boutique for exclusive home furniture and products.
He served on various committees in various capacities.
He was the vice president of the International Astronomical Union during 1988-1994.
He served as the chairman of Commission J ( Radio Astronomy) of the International Union of Radio Sciences (1981–1984).