Venkatraman Radhakrishnan

Who was Venkatraman Radhakrishnan?

Venkatraman Radhakrishnan was an internationally renowned space scientist and member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. He was Professor Emeritus of the Raman Research Institute in Bangalore, India, where he had been Director from 1972 to 1994.

Professor Radhakrishnan was born in Tondaripet, a suburb of Madras to Nobel laureate physicist Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman and his wife Lokasundari Ammal . His earlier schooling was in Madras. He graduated from the Mysore University before joining the Department of Physics at the prestigious Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.

He was married to Mrs. Francoise-Dominique Radhakrishnan. They have a son Vivek Radhakrishnan who studied design under the direction of Hella Jongerius, from the Design Academy Eindhoven, Netherlands. In 2004, Vivek and his wife Namrata returned home to Bangalore to set up Kynkyny. The company has two facets, Kynkyny Art, a gallery for contemporary Indian art, and Kynkyny Home, a boutique for exclusive home furniture and products.

Prof. Radhakrishnan served on various committees in various capacities. He was the Vice President of the International Astronomical Union during 1988-1994.