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M. S. Swaminathan
Sign in to saveAlso known as Mankombu Sambasivan Swaminathan, Monkombu Sambasivan Swaminathan
Indian agronomist (1925–2023)
OverviewAI-generated
M. S. Swaminathan was an Indian politician, geneticist, agronomist, and administrator. He was born in Kudanthaiyan in 1925 and died in Chennai in 2023. His professional work focused on genetics, artificial selection, agronomy, and plant breeding. He was educated at the University of Cambridge, the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Fitzwilliam College, and the University of Kerala.
Swaminathan received several awards, including the Ramon Magsaysay Award, the Indira Gandhi Peace Prize, and the Volvo Environment Prize. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society and a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Indian National Science Academy. He served as a member of the Rajya Sabha and was a member of the Indian National Congress. He was influenced by Norman Borlaug.
He was married to Mina Swaminathan and had a child named Soumya Swaminathan. He spoke English, Tamil, and German, with Tamil as his native language. He was a Hindu. His name in his native language is மான்கொம்பு சாம்பசிவன் சுவாமிநாதன்.
Synthesized by Vinony from 23 facts across 2 sources: Wikidata, Vinony collections. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Key facts
- Constituency
- Nominated
- Born
- Mankombu Sambasivan Swaminathan , ( 1925-08-07 ) 7 August 1925, Kumbakonam , Tanjore District, Madras Presidency , British India (present-day Thanjavur , Tamil Nadu, India)
- Died
- 28 September 2023 (2023-09-28) (aged 98), Chennai , Tamil Nadu, India
- Education
- University of Kerala ( BSc ) University of Madras ( MSc ) University of Cambridge ( PhD )
- Spouse
- Mina Swaminathan ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 1955 ; died 2022 )
- Children
- 3, including Soumya
- Awards
- Padma Shri (1967) Ramon Magsaysay Award (1971) Padma Bhushan (1972) World Food Prize (1987) Padma Vibhushan (1989) Bharat Ratna (2024)
- Fields
- Botany plant genetics genetics cytogenetics ecological economics plant breeding ecotechnology
- Institutions
- Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI; as teacher, researcher and research administrator, 1954–1972) Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR; as Director General, 1972–1980) International Rice Research Institute (IRRI; as Director General, 1982–1988)
- Thesis
- Species Differentiation, and the Nature of Polyploidy in certain species of the genus Solanum–section Tuberarium (1952)
- Doctoral advisor
- H. W. Howard
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- India
- Place of birth
- Kudanthaiyan
- Place of death
- Chennai
- Spouse
- Mina Swaminathan
- Child
- Soumya Swaminathan
- Occupation
- administrator
- Position held
- member of Rajya Sabha
- Educated at
- University of Madras
- Political party
- Indian National Congress
- Languages spoken
- German
- Native language
- Tamil
- Religion
- Hinduism
- Award
- Bharat Ratna
- Field of work
- plant genetics
- Image
- Monkombu Sambasivan Swaminathan - Kolkata 2013-01-07 2674.JPG
Show 8 more facts
- Commons category
- M. S. Swaminathan
- date of birth
- 1925-08-07
- influenced by
- Norman Borlaug
- social media followers
- 48440
- P10632
- M. S. Swaminathan
- date of death
- 2023-09-28
- name in native language
- மான்கொம்பு சாம்பசிவன் சுவாமிநாதன்
via Wikidata · CC0
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Encyclopedic overview
Mankombu Sambasivan Swaminathan (7 August 1925 – 28 September 2023) was an Indian geneticist and plant breeder, administrator and humanitarian. Swaminathan was a global leader of the green revolution. He has been called the main architect of the green revolution in India for his leadership and role in introducing and further developing high-yielding varieties of wheat and rice.
Swaminathan's collaborative scientific efforts with Norman Borlaug, spearheading a mass movement with farmers and other scientists and backed by public policies, saved India and Pakistan from certain famine-like conditions in the 1960s. His leadership as director general of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines was instrumental in his being awarded the first World Food Prize in 1987, recognized as one of the highest honours in the field of agriculture. The United Nations Environment Programme has called him "the Father of Economic Ecology". He was recently conferred the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award of the Republic of India, in 2024.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “M. S. Swaminathan” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.