The Most Famous

PHYSICIANS from India

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This page contains a list of the greatest Indian Physicians. The pantheon dataset contains 726 Physicians, 12 of which were born in India. This makes India the birth place of the 17th most number of Physicians behind Czechia, and Canada.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Indian Physicians of all time. This list of famous Indian Physicians is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography's online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Indian Physicians.

Photo of Ronald Ross

1. Ronald Ross (1857 - 1932)

With an HPI of 74.32, Ronald Ross is the most famous Indian Physician.  His biography has been translated into 88 different languages on wikipedia.

Sir Ronald Ross (13 May 1857 – 16 September 1932) was a British medical doctor who received the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1902 for his work on the transmission of malaria, becoming the first British Nobel laureate, and the first born outside Europe. His discovery of the malarial parasite in the gastrointestinal tract of a mosquito in 1897 proved that malaria was transmitted by mosquitoes, and laid the foundation for the method of combating the disease. Ross was a polymath, writing a number of poems, publishing several novels, and composing songs. He was also an amateur artist and mathematician. He worked in the Indian Medical Service for 25 years. It was during his service that he made the groundbreaking medical discovery. After resigning from his service in India, he joined the faculty of Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, and continued as Professor and Chairman of Tropical Medicine of the institute for 10 years. In 1926, he became Director-in-Chief of the Ross Institute and Hospital for Tropical Diseases, which was established in honour of his works. He remained there until his death.

Photo of Sushruta

2. Sushruta (620 BC - 600 BC)

With an HPI of 68.12, Sushruta is the 2nd most famous Indian Physician.  His biography has been translated into 45 different languages.

Suśruta (Sanskrit: सुश्रुत, lit. 'well heard', IAST: Suśruta) is the listed author of the Suśruta Saṃhitā (Suśruta's Compendium), considered to be one of the most important surviving ancient treatises on medicine. It is also considered a foundational text of Ayurveda. The treatise addresses all aspects of general medicine, including diet, surgery, nosology, anatomy, developmental biology, therapeutics, toxicology, pediatrics and other subjects. The inclusion of particularly impressive and historically important chapters on surgery has wrongly led some to believe that this is the work's primary focus. The treatise consists of 186 chapters. The Compendium of Suśruta locates its author in Varanasi, India.

Photo of Dean Mahomed

3. Dean Mahomed (1759 - 1851)

With an HPI of 63.51, Dean Mahomed is the 3rd most famous Indian Physician.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Dean Mahomed (1759–1851) was a British Indian traveller, soldier, surgeon, entrepreneur, and one of the most notable early non-European immigrants to the Western World. Due to non-standard transliteration, his name is spelled in various ways. His high social status meant that he later adopted the honorific "Sake" meaning "venerable one". Mahomed introduced Indian cuisine and shampoo baths to Europe, where he offered therapeutic massage. He was also the first Indian to publish a book in English.

Photo of Soumya Swaminathan

4. Soumya Swaminathan (b. 1959)

With an HPI of 58.57, Soumya Swaminathan is the 4th most famous Indian Physician.  Her biography has been translated into 26 different languages.

Soumya Swaminathan (born 2 May 1959) is an Indian paediatrician and clinical scientist known for her research on tuberculosis and HIV. Swaminathan served as Secretary to the Government of India for Health Research and Director General of the Indian Council of Medical Research (2015–2017), where she prioritized evidence-based health policy, research capacity building in medical schools, and strengthening south-south partnerships in health sciences. From October 2017 to March 2019, she was the deputy director general of programmes (DDP) at the World Health Organization. Subsequently till 2022, she served as the chief scientist at the World Health Organization under the leadership of Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Photo of Kadambini Ganguly

5. Kadambini Ganguly (1861 - 1923)

With an HPI of 58.24, Kadambini Ganguly is the 5th most famous Indian Physician.  Her biography has been translated into 35 different languages.

Dr. Kadambini Bose Ganguly (18 July 1861 – 3 October 1923) was the first Indian female doctor of western medicine. She and Anandibai Joshi both got their degree in Western medicine in 1886. However, she was India's first practicing lady doctor, as Anandibai died soon after. She was India's first practicing female doctor in modern medicine. Ganguly was the first woman to gain admission to Calcutta Medical College in 1884, subsequently trained in Scotland, and established a successful medical practice in India. She was the first woman speaker in the Indian National Congress.

Photo of Devi Shetty

6. Devi Shetty (b. 1953)

With an HPI of 57.19, Devi Shetty is the 6th most famous Indian Physician.  His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Devi Prasad Shetty (born 8 May 1953) is an Indian cardiac surgeon who is the chairman and founder of Narayana Health, a chain of 24 medical centers in India. He has performed more than 100,000 heart operations. In 2004 he was awarded the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award, followed by the Padma Bhushan in 2012, the third highest civilian award by the Government of India for his contribution to the field of affordable healthcare.

Photo of Kamal Ranadive

7. Kamal Ranadive (1917 - 2001)

With an HPI of 56.17, Kamal Ranadive is the 7th most famous Indian Physician.  Her biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Kamal Jayasing Ranadive (née Samarath; 8 November 1917 – 11 April 2001) was an Indian biomedical researcher known for her research on the links between cancers and viruses. She was a founding member of the Indian Women Scientists' Association (IWSA). In the 1960s, she established India's first tissue culture research laboratory at the Indian Cancer Research Centre in Mumbai.

Photo of Indira Nath

8. Indira Nath (1938 - 2021)

With an HPI of 55.90, Indira Nath is the 8th most famous Indian Physician.  Her biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Indira Nath (14 January 1938 – 24 October 2021) was an Indian immunologist. Her major contribution in medical science deals with mechanisms underlying immune unresponsiveness in man, reactions and nerve damage in leprosy and a search for markers for viability of the Leprosy bacillus. Prof. Nath's fields of specialisations are Immunology, Pathology, Medical biotechnology, and communicable diseases.

Photo of Bidhan Chandra Roy

9. Bidhan Chandra Roy (1882 - 1962)

With an HPI of 54.83, Bidhan Chandra Roy is the 9th most famous Indian Physician.  His biography has been translated into 26 different languages.

Bidhan Chandra Roy (1 July 1882 – 1 July 1962) was an Indian physician and politician who served as Chief Minister of West Bengal from 1950 until his death in 1962. He played a key role in the founding of several institutions and cities like Salt Lake (now a part of Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation), Kalyani, Durgapur and Ashoknagar Kalyangarh. In India, the National Doctors' Day is celebrated in his memory every year on 1 July. He was awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour in 1961.

Photo of Narendra Dabholkar

10. Narendra Dabholkar (1945 - 2013)

With an HPI of 48.01, Narendra Dabholkar is the 10th most famous Indian Physician.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Narendra Achyut Dabholkar (1 November 1945 – 20 August 2013) was an Indian physician, social activist, rationalist and author from Maharashtra, India. In 1989 he founded and became president of the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (MANS, Committee for Eradication of Superstition in Maharashtra). Triggered by his assassination in 2013, the pending Anti-Superstition and Black Magic Ordinance was promulgated in the state of Maharashtra, four days later. In 2014, he was posthumously awarded the Padma Shri for social work.

People

Pantheon has 12 people classified as Indian physicians born between 620 BC and 1970. Of these 12, 3 (25.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Indian physicians include Soumya Swaminathan, Devi Shetty, and Siddhartha Mukherjee. The most famous deceased Indian physicians include Ronald Ross, Sushruta, and Dean Mahomed. As of April 2024, 12 new Indian physicians have been added to Pantheon including Ronald Ross, Sushruta, and Dean Mahomed.

Living Indian Physicians

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Deceased Indian Physicians

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Newly Added Indian Physicians (2024)

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Overlapping Lives

Which Physicians were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 6 most globally memorable Physicians since 1700.