Personalities related to health & medicine in Indian stamps

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India gained its independence on 15th August 1947, and has issued more than 1100 postage stamps that feature a personality. Mahatma Gandhi featured in a first such stamp in 1948. Over next 75 years, 40 of these “person-stamps” were related to healthcare, less than 4% of the total.

First twenty five years (1948-73), and only five

First two health-person stamps (1957 and 1963 respectively) were on Henry Dunant, founder of the Red Cross movement. Dunant was a Swiss National, and recipient of the first Nobel peace prize in 1901. These were the only stamps in this category in the first fifteen years.

Next three medical personalities to feature in a postage stamp over next ten years (1964-74) were Waldemar Haffkine, Marie Curie, and Gerhard Hansen. Of them, Haffkine had actually worked in India. He was a Russian born French scientist, who had trained under Louis Pasteur. He established first vaccine institute for cholera and plague vaccines in India. Marie Curie was a Polish-French physicist, who discovered radioactivity. Hansen was a Norwegian Physician, who first discovered Leprosy Bug. Of these, Hansen was the only medical-doctor.

Next twenty-five years (1974-98), twelve more in the list

Sir Gangaram, Hahnemann, Helen Keller, Robert Koch

Six of the next twelve health stamps featured an Indian National. Sir Gangaram (Gangaram Agarwal 1851-1927) was an engineer, and an architect. He established Sir Gangaram hospital in Lahore in 1921. After partition, in 1951 his family members established another hospital bearing his name in Delhi. This hospital features in the 1977 postage stamp and its first day cover.

Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843) was a German Physician who established Homeopathy. In 1977, India post featured him in a postage stamp on Homeopathy congress. Three years later, in 1980 we had a postage stamp on Helen Keller (1880-1968), an American disability rights advocate. The year 1982 was a centenary year of discovery of tuberculosis bacillus. India post issued a postage stamp that featured Robert Koch, a German Physician and a recipient of the 1905 Nobel Prize, for his landmark discovery.

Two Indian Doctors: Mukhtar Ansari and BC Roy

Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari (1880-1936) was first Indian doctor to feature in a postage stamp. Graduated from Madras Medical College, and went on to specialise as a Surgeon in England. He was involved with the Indian Freedom struggle, and worked with both Muslim League (was its president in 1918 and 1920) and Congress (was its President in 1927). He went on to establish Jamia Milia Island University in Delhi. Ansari Nagar, near AIIMS New Delhi is named after him.

Another 1982 stamp on a medical person was on Dr BC Roy (1882-1962). Dr BC Roy studied at Calcutta Medical college, before specialising in medicine in England. On his return, he was a practicing physician, and also involved in the Indian Freedom struggle. After independence, he also served as the Chief Minister of West Bengal from 1948-1962. Postage stamp in 1982 was issued on his Birth centenary.

Three Indian Doctors – Gidlay, Kotnis and Subbaraow

After a ten year lull, in 1992 we had a postage stamp on Dr Henry Gidnay (1873-1942), founder of the Anglo-Indian association, who specialised as an ophthalmologist. He was an alumnus of the Calcutta medical school. Next year, India post issued a stamp on Dr Dwarkadas Kotnis (1910-1942) a young Indian doctor from GS Seth Medical College Mumbai, who went on to serve on a medical mission in China. Yellapragada Subbarow (1895-1948) was an Alumnus of Madras Medical College. He obtain further training in biochemistry at Havard, and discovered various medicinal compounds such as methotrexate DEC and folic acid.

Three Path-breakers – Pasteur, Roentgen, and Ross

The year 1995 was Louis Pasteur‘s death centenary. Indian post issued a postage stamp to mark this event. Pasteur is a French microbiologist, well known for pasteurisation, vaccination and fermentation. This Indian Pasteur stamp came a well 67 years after the first ever French stamp that had featured him in 1928. The year 1995 was also 150th Anniversary of Wilhelm Roengten, a German Physicist who discovered X-rays in 1898. He was awarded 1901 Nobel Prize in Physics for this discovery.

In 1897, Ronald Ross, a British Physician who was working in India, discovered that mosquitoes carried malarial parasite, and transfer the disease from a person to person. Indian post issued a postage stamp in 1997, featuring Ronal Ross. This year was also a centenary of this important discovery. He was awarded 1902 Nobel Prize in Medicine for this discovery.

The last twenty five years (1998-2023), and a windfall of 23

In 1999 we had two doctors in Indian postage stamps. Dr TMA Pai (1898-1979), who studied medicine at Stanley Medical college Chennai, established Manipal Group of Institutions. Dr KB Hedgewar (1889-1940) an alumnus of Calcutta Medical College established Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

Next Indian postage stamp with a medical person was issued in 2008. This stamp featured Dr TM Nair (1868-1919, who studied medicine at Madras Medical College, and later spent most of his career in Dravidian political movement. Three stamps in 2009 featured Maharishi Patanjali (Father of Yoga), Louis Braille (Braille script for visually challenged) and Mahindra Sircar (a Calcutta medical college graduate who worked for advancement of science).

Baba Amte (Murlidhar Devidas Amte1914-2008) was an activist, who worked tirelessly for rehabilitation of patients with Leprosy. 2014 was his Birth centenary year. Dr Shivaji Ganesh Patwardhan (1892-1986) trained in Homeopathy in Calcutta, and later devoted his life in care of patients with Leprosy.

Dr Talimeren Ao (1918-1998) was an Indian footballer and a physician. He was the Captain of independent India’s first football team in 1948. He went on to study medicine, and graduated from Assam Medical College at Dibrugarh in 1963. Thereafter, he worked as a doctor in Nagaland Health services thereafter.

In 2019, India post issued a twelve stamp set on practitioners of Indian System of Medicine. (See a related blog here) These practioners belong to Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy. The next year, in 2020 we had a postage stamp on Dr Rafiq Ahmed (1890-1965), founder of dental education in India. A 2022 postage stamp on Dr MS Ramaiah 1922-1997 (founder of many educational institutes, including a medical college) is the last one so far.

Epilogue

With less than 4% of all person-stamps issued by Indian posts, the number is small. Of the 40 person-stamps, 28 were from India. Eight of them engaged themselves in political movement or were philanthropists or activists. Only 20 (14 Indian System of Medicine, 6 from modern medicine or dentistry) directly engaged for life in patient care. This is indeed a small number for a large country like India, that also exports its medical minds across the world.