C. V. Subramanian

{{short description|Indian mycologist, taxonomist and plant pathologist}} {{Use British English|date=March 2018}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2018}} {{Infobox scientist | name = C. V. Subramanian | image = | alt = | caption = | birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1924|8|11}} | birth_place = Ernakulam, Kerala India | death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|2016|2|5|1924|8|11}} | death_place = Bangkok, Thailand | fields = Mycology Plant pathology | workplaces = {{ublist | Indian Agricultural Research Institute | University of Rajasthan | University of Madras}} | alma_mater = {{ublist |University of Madras | University of Cambridge | Commonwealth Mycological Institute}} | doctoral_advisor = T. S. Sadasivan | doctoral_students = | known_for = Studies on Fungi imperfecti | awards = 1944 UoM Pulney Andi Gold Medal 1965 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize 1973 Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Award 1972 IBS Birbal Sahni Medal 2000 Janaki Ammal National Award 2009 IBS Lifetime Achievement Award }} '''Chirayathumadom Venkatachalier Subramanian''' (11 August 1924 – 5 February 2016), popularly known as '''CVS''', was an Indian mycologist, taxonomist and plant pathologist, known for his work on the classification of Fungi imperfecti, a group of fungi classified separately due to lack of specific taxonomic characteristics.<ref name="Brief Profile of the Awardee">{{cite web | url=http://ssbprize.gov.in/Content/Detail.aspx?AID=80 | title=Brief Profile of the Awardee | publisher=Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize |year=2016 | access-date=4 September 2016}}</ref> He authored one monograph, ''Hyphomycetes: An Account of Indian Species, Except Cercosporae''<ref name="Subramanian1971">{{cite book|author=Chirayathumadom Venkatachalier Subramanian|title=Hyphomycetes: An Account of Indian Species, Except Cercosporae|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XJIMAQAAMAAJ|year=1971|publisher=Indian Council of Agricultural Research}}</ref> and three books, ''Hyphomycetes, taxonomy and biology'',<ref name="Subramanian1983">{{cite book|author=Chirayathumadom Venkatachalier Subramanian|title=Hyphomycetes, taxonomy and biology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yTslAQAAMAAJ|year=1983|publisher=Academic Press|isbn=978-0-12-675620-3}}</ref> ''Moulds, Mushrooms and Men''<ref name="Subramanian1976">{{cite book|author=Chirayathumadom Venkatachalier Subramanian|title=Moulds, Mushrooms and Men|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d11GywAACAAJ|year=1976|publisher=Birbal Sahni Institute of Paleobotany}}</ref> and ''Soil microfungi of Israel'',<ref name="SubramanianVasser2001">{{cite book|author1=Chirayathumadom Venkatachalier Subramanian|author2=Solomon Pavlovich Vasser|title=Soil microfungi of Israel|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v5MlAQAAMAAJ|year=2001|publisher=A.R.A. Gantner|isbn=978-3-904144-76-6}}</ref> besides several articles published in peer-reviewed journals. He was a recipient of many honours including the Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Award of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, the Janaki Ammal National Award of the Government of India<ref name="Professor C.V. Subramanian - 1924 - 2016">{{cite web | url=http://www.britmycolsoc.org.uk/society/obituaries/professor-cv-subramanian-1924-2016/ | title=Professor C.V. Subramanian – 1924 – 2016 | publisher=British Mycological Society |year=2016 | access-date=4 September 2016}}</ref> and seven species of fungi have been named after him.<ref name="C. V. Subramanian on Neglected Science">{{cite web | url=http://www.neglectedscience.com/alphabetical-list/s/chirayathumadom-venkatachalier-subramanian | title=C. V. Subramanian on Neglected Science | publisher=Neglected Science |year=2016 | access-date=4 September 2016}}</ref> The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1965, for his contributions to biological sciences.<ref name="View Bhatnagar Awardees">{{cite web | url=http://ssbprize.gov.in/Content/AwardeeList.aspx | title=View Bhatnagar Awardees | publisher=Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize |year=2016 | access-date=4 September 2016}}</ref>

== Biography == C. V. Subramanian was born on 11 August 1924 at Kochi in Ernakulam district, the commercial capital<ref name="About">{{cite web | url=https://www.kerala.me/districts/ernakulam | title=About | publisher=Kerala.me |year=2016 | access-date=4 September 2016}}</ref> of the south Indian state of Kerala, to T. D. Parvathi Ammal and C. M. Venkatachalier, a lawyer.<ref name="Living Legends in Indian Science">{{cite journal | url=http://www.currentscience.ac.in/Volumes/106/10/1438.pdf | title=Living Legends in Indian Science | author=D. Jayarama Bhat, J. Muthumary, C. Rajendran, S. Raghu Kumar and B. P. R. Vittal | journal=Current Science | date=May 2014 | volume=106 | issue=10}}</ref> He did his schooling at Sree Rama Varma High School, a government-run school in the city and did his early college studies at Maharaja's College after which he joined the Presidency College, Chennai from where he graduated (BSc Hons) with first rank in 1941. It was during this period he had the opportunity to meet M. O. P. Iyengar, the renowned algologist, who was known to have fostered Subramanian's interest in phycology. Before completing his master's degree (MA) in mycology in 1944, he prepared his first dissertation on Acanthus ilicifolius, a halophyte found in the saline waters of western coastal India. Subsequently, he joined Toppur Seethapathy Sadasivan{{Refn|group=note|Toppur Seethapathy Sadasivan was the first recipient of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Bialogical Sciences.<ref name="View Bhatnagar Awardees" />}} as the first research student of the plant pathologist who also headed the ''Centre for Advanced Studies in Botany'' of the University of Madras during that time. He received his doctoral degree (PhD) in 1948 for his thesis, ''Soil conditions and wilt diseases in plants with special reference to Fusarium vasinfectum Atk. on cotton'' after which he continued his research on mycology and did post-doctoral research, on an ICS fellowship of the Indian National Science Academy (then known as the National Institute of Sciences of India) at the Botany School of Cambridge University and, later at Commonwealth Mycological Institute, UK where he was associated with known mycologists, Stephen Denis Garrett and E. W. Mason.<ref name="Living Legends in Indian Science" />

Subramanian started his academic career in 1951 when he joined the University of Madras as a senior lecturer where he rose to the position of a reader in 1953.<ref name="Personal News - Chirayathumadom Venkatachalier Subramanian">{{cite journal | url=http://www.currentscience.ac.in/Volumes/110/05/0922.pdf | title=Personal News – Chirayathumadom Venkatachalier Subramanian | author=H. Y. Mohan Ram | journal=Current Science | date=March 2016 | volume=110 | issue=5 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160911110706/http://www.currentscience.ac.in/Volumes/110/05/0922.pdf | archive-date=11 September 2016 }}</ref> During this period, he continued his researches and his published work, ''Floristic and taxonomic studies on Fungi Imperfecti'', earned him the degree of DSc in 1957 from the University of Madras. A year later, the Indian Agricultural Research Institute created a new ''Chair in Plant Pathology'' and invited Subramanian to hold the position which he did till his move to the University of Rajasthan in 1960. There, he established the Department of Botany and headed the department as its founder professor till his return to Madras University in 1964 as a professor of Botany. In 1973, he succeeded his mentor, T. S. Sadasivan as the head of the ''Centre for Advanced Study in Botany'', a position he held till his superannuation in 1985.<ref name="Living Legends in Indian Science" /> He continued his academic career past his official retirement and worked as a visiting professor at such institutions as the National University of Singapore, the University of Western Australia and the National Taiwan University.<ref name="Professor C.V. Subramanian - 1924 - 2016" />

Subramanian was married to Subbalakshmi and the couple lived in Nungambakkam, Chennai.<ref name="Living Legends in Indian Science" /> It was during one of his trips to Thailand, he died in Bangkok on 5 February 2016, at the age of 91, survived by his wife and two sons, C. S. Venkatachalam and C. S. Seshadri, both engineers by profession.<ref name="Personal News - Chirayathumadom Venkatachalier Subramanian" />

== Legacy ==

===Professional contributions === Subramanian was involved with a number of science academies and societies in India, starting with his membership of the Indian Academy of Sciences at the age of 32, reportedly chosen personally by C. V. Raman, the renowned physicist,<ref name="Professor C.V. Subramanian - 1924 - 2016" /> where he would later serve as the vice-president from 1977 to 1985.<ref name="Fellow Profile">{{cite web | url=http://www.ias.ac.in/describe/fellow/Subramanian,_Prof._Chirayathumadom_Venkatachalier | title=Fellow Profile | publisher=Indian Academy of Sciences |year=2016 | access-date=5 September 2016}}</ref> He served as a member of the Indian National Science Academy, International Union of Biological Sciences, Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium and British Mycological Society. He was the president of the International Mycological Association in 1977 and presided over its annual congress held in Tokyo in 1983.<ref name="Professor C.V. Subramanian - 1924 - 2016" /> In 1973, he led a group of mycologists who founded the Mycological Society of India for promoting mycological researches.<ref name="Welcome">{{cite web | url=https://fungiindia.co.in/ | title=Welcome | publisher=Mycological Society of India |year=2016 | access-date=5 September 2016}}</ref> The society has since grown to be a national organisation with 400 members and interest in studies related to taxonomy, ecology, pathology, genetics, molecular biology and physiology. The society also publishes a journal, ''Kavaka'' and he was its founder editor, holding the position till 1998. He was also a member of the University Grants Commission from 1977 to 1982.<ref name="Professor C.V. Subramanian - 1924 - 2016" /> It was reported that Subramanian personally appealed to Indira Gandhi, the then Indian prime minister, to abandon the proposed hydro-electric project in the Silent Valley, a bio-reserve area in his home state of Kerala, eventually leading to its declaration as a national park in 1985.<ref name="Living Legends in Indian Science" />

=== Scientific contributions === While serving as a senior lecturer at Madras University, Subramanian published a two-volume work in 1956 under the title, ''List of Indian Fungi'', which listed the known species of fungi in India.<ref name="List of Indian Fungi">{{cite book | title=List of Indian Fungi | publisher=Emkay Publications |author1=C. V. Subramanian |author2=K. Ramakrishnan | year=1956 | oclc=858868381}}</ref> Major focus of his research was on Fungi imperfecti.<ref name="Handbook of Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize Winners">{{cite web | url=http://www.csirhrdg.res.in/ssb.pdf | title=Handbook of Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize Winners | publisher=Council of Scientific and Industrial Research | year=1999 | access-date=4 September 2016 | pages=36 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304043957/http://www.csirhrdg.res.in/ssb.pdf | archive-date=4 March 2016 | url-status=dead }}</ref> He was known to have conducted extensive research on Hyphomycetes and his work has been detailed in a monograph, ''Hyphomycetes: An Account of Indian Species, Except Cercosporae'', published in 1971<ref name="Subramanian1971"/> and another book, ''Hyphomycetes, taxonomy and biology'', published in 1983,<ref name="Subramanian1983"/> where he proposed a classification based on conidium ontogenesis. He also proposed a new nomenclature protocol based on Sanskrit terminology;<ref name="Personal News - Chirayathumadom Venkatachalier Subramanian" /> MycoBank, an online repository managed by the International Mycological Association has listed 384 genera of fungi named by him and Angulimaya,<ref name="Angulimaya">{{cite web | url=https://www.catalogueoflife.org/annual-checklist/2011/search/all/key/angulimaya+sundara/match/1 | title=Angulimaya | publisher=Catalogue of Life |year=2016 | access-date=5 September 2016}}</ref> Dwayabeeja,<ref name="Dwayabeeja">{{cite web | url=http://www.mycobank.org/BioloMICS.aspx?TableKey=14682616000000067&Rec=94960&Fields=All | title=Dwayabeeja | publisher=MycoBank |year=2016 | access-date=5 September 2016}}</ref> Kutilakesa, Nalalanthamala, and Tharoopama<ref name="Tharoopama">{{cite web | url=http://www.mycobank.org/BioloMICS.aspx?TableKey=14682616000000067&Rec=98571&Fields=All | title=Tharoopama | publisher=MycoBank |year=2016 | access-date=5 September 2016}}</ref> are some of them.<ref name="Search on : Mycobank">{{cite web | url=http://www.mycobank.org/BioloMICS.aspx?TableKey=14682616000000067&Rec=98571&Fields=All | title=Search on : Mycobank | publisher=MycoBank |year=2016 | access-date=5 September 2016}}</ref> He worked on the re-assessment of Dematiaceous hyphomycetes and his work assisted in reclassifying the genus by attempting to disprove that Sporidesmium had a different ancestral species (monophyletic).<ref name="Living Legends in Indian Science" /> Aspergillus, a genus of moulds, was another subject of his developmental taxonomical studies and his research on its teleomorphs helped in the better understanding of the fungi. His researches also explained the ''systematics, distribution and ecological behaviour'' of Fusarium and Drechslera, two plant pathogens.<ref name="Handbook of Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize Winners" /> He documented his researches in several articles and books besides the ones noted above; ''Moulds, Mushrooms and Men''<ref name="Subramanian1976"/> and ''Soil microfungi of Israel''<ref name="SubramanianVasser2001"/> are two such works.

== Awards and honours == The University of Madras awarded Subramanian the Pulney Andi Gold Medal in 1944 for academic excellence on his completion of the master's degree.<ref name="Living Legends in Indian Science" /> The Indian Academy of Sciences elected him as their fellow in 1955<ref name="Fellow Profile" /> and Indian National Science Academy followed suit with their fellowship in 1960.<ref name="Deceased Fellow">{{Cite web |url=http://insaindia.res.in/detail/N60-0807 |title=Deceased Fellow |year=2016 |publisher=Indian National Science Academy |access-date=5 September 2016 |archive-date=27 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170427203001/http://insaindia.res.in/detail/N60-0807 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He received the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, one of the highest Indian science awards, from the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research in 1965.<ref name="Brief Profile of the Awardee" /> The Birbal Sahni Medal of the Indian Botanical Society reached him in 1972; the society would again honour him in 2009 with their Lifetime Achievement Award.<ref name="Personal News - Chirayathumadom Venkatachalier Subramanian" /> The Indian Council of Agricultural Research awarded him the Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Award in 1973 and he held the Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship from 1976 to 1978.<ref name="List of Jawaharlal Nehru Fellows">{{cite web | url=https://www.jnmf.in/flist.html | title=List of Jawaharlal Nehru Fellows | publisher=Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund |year=2016 | access-date=5 September 2016}}</ref> The Mycological Society of America selected him as their honorary member in 1983<ref name="Current MSA Honorary Members">{{cite web | url=http://msafungi.org/msa-awards/honorary-members/ | title=Current MSA Honorary Members | publisher=Mycological Society of America |year=2016 | access-date=5 September 2016 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160202031434/http://msafungi.org/msa-awards/honorary-members/ | archive-date=2 February 2016 }}</ref> and the Government of India awarded him the E. K. Janaki Ammal National Award for Taxonomy in 2000.<ref name="Living Legends in Indian Science" /> The scientific community honoured Subramanian for his work; Subramaniula, Subramanianospora, Subramaniomyces, Subramania, Ceeveesubramaniomyces, Civisubramaniana and Ascosubramania are seven genera of fungi named after him.<ref name="C. V. Subramanian on Neglected Science" />

== Selected bibliography == * {{cite book | title=List of Indian Fungi | publisher=Emkay Publications |author1=C. V. Subramanian |author2=K. Ramakrishnan | year=1956 | oclc=858868381}} * {{cite book|author=Chirayathumadom Venkatachalier Subramanian|title=Hyphomycetes: An Account of Indian Species, Except Cercosporae|year=1971|publisher=Indian Council of Agricultural Research}} * {{cite book | title=Taxonomy of fungi : proceedings of the International Symposium on Taxonomy of Fungi (2 volumes) | publisher=University of Madras | author=C. V. Subramanian | year=1973 | oclc=5281883}} * {{cite book|author=Chirayathumadom Venkatachalier Subramanian|title=Moulds, Mushrooms and Men|year=1976|publisher=Birbal Sahni Institute of Paleobotany}} * {{cite journal | title=Tropical Mycology: Future Needs and Development | author=C. V. Subramanian | journal=Current Science | date=April 1982 | volume=51 | issue=7}} * {{cite book|author=Chirayathumadom Venkatachalier Subramanian|title=Hyphomycetes, taxonomy and biology|year=1983|publisher=Academic Press|isbn=978-0-12-675620-3}} * {{cite journal | title=A new species of ''Spegazzinia'' from Western Australia | author=C. V. Subramanian | journal=Proc. Indian Acad. Sci. (Plant Sci.) | date=April 1988 | volume=98 | issue=2 | pages=67–69 | doi=10.1007/BF03053392| s2cid=134920625 |url=https://www.ias.ac.in/describe/article/plnt/098/02/0067-0069| url-access=subscription }} * {{cite book|author1=Chirayathumadom Venkatachalier Subramanian|author2=Solomon Pavlovich Vasser|title=Soil microfungi of Israel|year=2001|publisher=A.R.A. Gantner|isbn=978-3-904144-76-6}}

== See also == {{Div col}} * Subramaniula * Ascosubramania * Toppur Seethapathy Sadasivan * List of Madras University alumni * Mycological Society of America * Mycological Society of India {{div col end}} {{portal|India|Biology}}

== Notes == {{Reflist|group=note}}

== References == {{Reflist}}

== External links == * {{cite web | url=http://kiki.huh.harvard.edu/databases/botanist_search.php?mode=details&id=77078 | title=Subramanian, Chirayathumadom Venkatachalier | work=Index of Botanists | publisher=Harvard University Herbaria & Libraries |year=2016 | access-date=4 September 2016}}

== Further reading == * {{cite journal | url=http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/96265833/c-v-subramanian | title=C. V. Subramanian |author1=Bhat, D. Jayarama |author2=Muthumary, J. |author3=Rajendran, C. |author4=Kumar, S. Raghu |author5=Vittal, B. P. R. | journal=Current Science | date=May 2014 | volume=106 | issue=10 | pages=1438}}{{dead link|date=January 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} * {{cite journal | url=https://repository.ias.ac.in/51719/1/1-pub.pdf | title=Tropical Mycology: Future Needs and Development | author=C. V. Subramanian | journal=Current Science | date=April 1982 | volume=51 | issue=7}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Subramanian, C. V.}} Category:Recipients of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in Biological Science Category:1924 births Category:2016 deaths Category:Indian botanical writers Category:Indian mycologists Category:Indian phytopathologists Category:Indian taxonomists Category:University of Madras alumni Category:Academic staff of the University of Madras Category:Maharaja's College, Ernakulam, alumni Category:Presidency College, Chennai alumni Category:Alumni of the University of Cambridge Category:Academic staff of the University of Rajasthan Category:Academic staff of the National University of Singapore Category:Academic staff of the University of Western Australia Category:Academic staff of the National Taiwan University Category:Fellows of the Indian Academy of Sciences Category:Fellows of the Indian National Science Academy Category:Jawaharlal Nehru Fellows Category:20th-century Indian botanists Category:Scientists from Kochi Category:Indian popular science writers Category:Writers from Kochi Category:20th-century Indian non-fiction writers Category:Indian expatriates in the United Kingdom Category:Indian expatriates in Taiwan Category:Indian expatriates in Australia Category:Indian expatriates in Singapore Category:Presidents of the International Mycological Association