{{Short description|Indian specialist in economic geology, marine geology, and nuclear geology}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Use Indian English|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox academic | name = Calamur Mahadevan | occupation = Geologist, Principal of Andhra University | discipline = Geology | sub_discipline = Economic geology<br />Marine geology<br />Nuclear geology<br />Ore dressing | notable_students = U. Aswathanarayana<br />Bunyan Edmund Vijayam<br />T. C. Rao<br />B. P. Radhakrishna<br />K. Padmanabhaiah, Home Secretary | image = | alma_mater = University of Madras (M.A.)<br />Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (D.Sc) | workplaces = Andhra University<br /> Massachusetts Institute of Technology <br /> UNESCO<br /> Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) <br /> Atomic Energy Committee | academic_advisors = Sir K.S. Krishnan<br /> M. O. Parathasarathy Iyengar | relatives = Sir C. V. Kumaraswami Sastri<br />Sir C.P. Ramaswami Iyer | doctoral_advisor = Sir C.V. Raman | awards = Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences (FASc)<br /> Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, India (FNASc)<br /> Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy (FNI)<br /> Fellow of the Indian Science Congress Association (FISC)<br /> Fellow of the Geological Society of India (FGS)<br /> Fellow of the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences (F.Pb.S)<br /> Fellow of the Palaeontological Society of India (FPSI) <br/> President and Fellow of the Geological, Mining, Metallurgical Society of India (F.G.M.M.S.I.) }}

'''Calamur Mahadevan''' <small>FNA</small> {{Post-nominals|country=||list=FASc FNASc FNI FISC FGS F.Pb.S FPSI MAIME}} <small>FGMMSI</small> (6 May 1901 – 8 April 1962), sometimes known as '''C. Mahadevan''', was an Indian specialist in economic geology, marine geology, and nuclear geology,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Calamur Mahadevan FNA |url=https://fellows.ias.ac.in/profile/v/FL1934048 |website=Indian Academy of Sciences' Fellows Portal}}</ref> and 1934 Founding Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences,<ref name=":0" /> elected for Earth and Planetary Sciences. He served on the Council of the Indian Academy of Sciences from 1948 until his death in 1962. Chosen as a Fulbright scholar, with aid from the United States National Research Council, he taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Academy |first=Indian National Science |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=snQ7AQAAIAAJ |title=Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Indian National Science Academy |date=1976 |language=en}}</ref> Appointed to the first Professorship of Geology at Andhra University after fourteen years as Superintendent Geologist at the [https://mines.telangana.gov.in/MinesAndGeology/Views/Index.aspx Geological Survey of Hyderabad], he was known as a doyen or foundational figure in the field of Indian geology.<ref>{{Cite web |title=UCS: Geology |url=https://www.osmania.ac.in/sciencecollege/geolog.html |access-date=2024-03-22 |website=www.osmania.ac.in}}</ref>

At Andhra University, where he was further appointed Principal, he introduced the subjects of Oceanography, Marine geology, Marine biology, Mineral processing, and Nuclear geology as firsts in India, which some scholars trace to his time at MIT.<ref name=":1" />

He was a major contributor to the Geological and Mineralogical Research Committee of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research,<ref>{{Cite web |title=INSA :: Deceased Fellow Detail |url=https://insaindia.res.in/old_website/detail.php?id=N45-0420 |access-date=2024-03-23 |website=insaindia.res.in}}</ref> and to the Nuclear Research Board of the Atomic Energy Committee, of which his cousin-in-law, M. R. Srinivasan was Chairman.<ref name=":1" /> He was additionally UNESCO's designated Expert in Geology, in relation to which he spent 1956-7 in Brazil.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kothari |first=H. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3Lc0EAAAQBAJ |title=Who is Who in Indian Science 1969 |date=1969-01-01 |publisher=Alexander Doweld |language=en}}</ref> The Mahadevan International Centre for Water Resources Management was named in his honour, as was the [https://www.geosocindia.org/index.php/gsi/pages/view/EL_cmel Calamur Mahadevan Endowment Lecture] of the Geological Society of India.

== Early life == He was born to Calamur Subrahmanya and C. Janaki, into the Calamur family, renowned for its scholarship,<ref name=":1" /> especially in Indian classics,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Krishnan |first=Maharajapuram Sitaram |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wOQJAQAAIAAJ |title=Mahadevan Volume: A Collection of Geological Papers in Commemoration of the Sixty-first Birthday of Prof. C. Mahadevan |date=1961 |publisher=Publication Committee; [copies can be had from S. Balakrishna, Geology Department, Osmania University] |language=en}}</ref> and attended primary school in Buchireddypalem and in Madras, where he enrolled at Muthialpet High School. He earnt his M.A. in geology from the University of Madras in 1927 under Sir K. S. Krishnan, where his other teachers included T. N. Muthuswamy Iyer and M. O. P. Iyengar, and obtained his D.Sc. at the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science under Sir C. V. Raman.{{fact|date=March 2025}}

== Hyderabad Geological Survey == Mahadevan joined the Hyderabad State Geological Survey in 1931 as Assistant Superintendent, where he became a protege of Dr. Alexander M. Heron, recently retired as the Director of the Geological Survey of India.{{fact|date=March 2025}}

== Family == As a Calamur, he was closely related to Sir C.V. Kumaraswami Sastri and Sir C. P. Ramaswami Iyer, among others.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Calamur Mahadevan – Humane professor {{!}} Brahmin For Society |url=https://brahminsforsociety.com/tamil/2016/06/27/calamur-mahadevan-humane-professor/ |access-date=2024-03-19 |website=brahminsforsociety.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Academy |first=Indian National Science |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CUAFAAAAIAAJ |title=Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Indian National Science Academy |date=1976 |language=en}}</ref> His sister Kanthammal Calamur married Dr. Cpt. Pennathur Krishnaswamy; their two daughters Saraswati and Kamakshi married Sir C.P.’s sons C. R. Pattabhiraman and C.R. Sundaram,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ramakrishna |first=P.C. |date=16–31 July 2008 |title=The Captain of Cathedral Road |url=https://madrasmusings.com/older-archives/Vol%2018/Vol%20XVIII%20-%20No%2007.pdf |work=Madras Musings Vol. XVIII No. 7 |pages=6–8}}</ref> whose respective granddaughter and son are Nanditha Krishna and C. Aryama Sundaram.

Mahadevan himself married Satyavati Rao, niece of V. N. Viswanatha Rao and Lakshmi Calamur Viravalli, daughter of Sir C. V. Kumaraswami Sastri. Satyavati's sister Lalitha and brother V. N. Krishna Rao both married Calamurs. Mahadevan's son Calamur Subrahmanyam, meanwhile married Lakshmi, daughter of C. R. Pattabhiraman and his first cousin Saraswati.

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:1901 births Category:1962 deaths Category:Academic staff of Andhra University Category:Economic geologists Category:Fellows of the Indian National Science Academy Category:Marine geologists Category:People from Nellore district Category:University of Madras alumni Category:20th-century Indian geologists