Early Life
Ashutosh Mukherjee's father was the well known doctor Ganga Prasad Mookerjee, who was also the founder of South Suburban School in Calcutta. He was born on June 29, 1864 at Bowbazar, Kolkata and showed an early aptitude for mathematics. Brought up in an atmosphere of science & literature at home, young Asutosh went to the Sisu Vidyalaya at Chakraberia, Bhowanipore. When he was young, he met Pandit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar. These meetings were a source of major inspiration. He was a student of Madhusudan Das. In 1879 when he was just fifteen, he passed the entrance exam of the Calcutta university. He stood third and received a first grade scholarship. In the year 1880, he took admission in the premiere College of Kolkata, Presidency College. Luminaries like P.C. Ray, Narendranath Dutta (later Swami Vivekananda) were his classmates. In 1885, he completed his M.A. degree with major in Mathematics. In 1886, he did his masters in physical science. In the same year he married to Jogomaya Devi. In 1883 he came first in the BA examination at Calcutta University and was awarded the Premchand-Roychand scholarship to complete a postgraduate degree in mathematics. Two years later he also acquired an MA in physics, making him the first student to be awarded a dual degree from Calcutta University. However, he turned down an offer of a job in the Department of Public Instruction in favour of completing his Bachelor of Law degree. Nevertheless, he continued to publish scholarly papers on issues in mathematics and physics. At the age of 24, Ashutosh Mukherjee became a Fellow of the Calcutta University and soon transformed it from an examining body into a great teaching and research centre in Indian subcontinent. He was Vice-Chancellor from 1906 to 1914 and again from 1921 to 1923 but dominated the University affairs throughout his life. He has an eye for talent and among his "discoveries" were Dr. C.V. Raman and Dr. S. Radhakrishnan.
He defied the request of Lord Curzon, then Viceroy of India, on the strength of his fathomless devotion for his mother. Lord Curzon made a request to Sir Ashutosh to pay a visit to England so that the Britons could see a glimpses of the scholars produced by British education in India. As his mother would not allow her son to cross the seas, Ashutosh had to decline the request of the Governor-General of India. At this Lord Curzon wrote: "Tell your mother the Viceroy and Governor-General of India commands her son to go." Asutosh didn't show slightest trace of fear. He replied: "Then I will tell the Viceroy and Governor General of India that Ashutosh Mukherji refuses to be commanded by any other person except his mother, be he Viceroy or be he somebody higher still."
The French scholar Sylvain Lévi once commented :
| “ | Had this Bengal Tiger been born in France, he would have exceeded even Georges Clemenceau, the French Tiger. Ashutosh had no peer in the whole of Europe. | ” |
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