Entomologist and naturalist Gopalchandra Bhattacharya was born on this day in Faridpur, now in Bangladesh.
Despite his brilliance he had to leave his studies after school because of poverty. He became a village schoolteacher, which kept him close to nature, which was a passionate interest.
During his years as a schoolteacher he wrote a paper on the ability of decomposed plants to transmit light. This was published in the journal Prabasi.
After he had taken up a job as a telephone operator in Calcutta, scientist Jagadish Chandra Bose contacted him.
Bhattacharya began to work at Bose Institute and remained there most of his life.
He worked on several research projects, his major interests being plant life, light from organic matter and entomology. He studied the behaviour of ants and other insects, observing how they built their living spaces, and the role of bacteria in the transformation of tadpoles into frogs.
He helped scientist Satyendra Nath Bose to establish Bangiya Bijnan Parishad.
