Reminiscences from Yesteryears

With immense pleasure I would like to share the sweet memories from the past as we begin celebrating Platinum Jubilee of Foundation of The Anatomical Society of India on 20 May, 1951 and Journal of Anatomical Society of India on 5 June, 1951. “The inauguration ceremony of the anatomical society of India was held on 20-5-1951 at 9.30 A.M. in the General Lecture Theatre of the Calcutta Medical College. More than 160 delegates and guests including eminent anatomists from Madras, Bombay, Assam, Rangoon and Bengal attended the function.”[1] Dr. Panchanon Chatterjee, Professor of Surgery, Medical College, Calcutta was the Chairman Reception Committee, Principal M.N. Bose, the Doyen of anatomists in India, presided over the function. Prof. S.K. Basu as organizing secretary addressed the meeting. “Inaugurating the Society Dr. Das Gupta, Director of Health services, West Bengal stated that a Society like the one founded to-day by the delegates, would go a great way to help investigation, research of and teaching in anatomy.”[1] Principal A.A. Ayer (Madras) was elected as the President, Prof. S.R. Nair (Bombay) and Prof. B.N. Basu (Calcutta) as Vice-Presidents, Prof. S.K. Basu (Calcutta) as General Secretary, Prof. L. Chacko (Vellore) as Jt. Secretary and Prof. P. Banerjee as Treasurer. On 21-5-1951 at 10 A.M. two symposia were held in the R.G. Kar Medical College with Principal A.A. Ayer, President of the Society in the chair. The first symposium was on ‘Methods of teaching Anatomy” and the second was on “Co-ordination of anatomical research”. In the afternoon, eleven members of the Society presented papers.[1] Congratulatory messages were also received from eminent anatomists from all over the globe, including Sir Arthur Keith (author of Human Embryology and Morphology), Prof. F. Wood Jones, Prof. W.E. Lee Gros Clark (author of Tissues of the Body), Prof. J.C. Brash (editor of Cunningham’s Manual of Practical Anatomy 11th & 12th editions), Prof. Mary F. Lucas Keene, Dr. E.B. Jamieson (Jamieson’s Atlas of Anatomy) from Great Britain, Prof. G.W. Corner, Dr. Sam L. Clark, Dr. Edmund J. Farris from USA, Dr. H. Rouviere from France (Rouviere’s sulcus in liver), Prof. C.H. Hjortsjo from Sweden (described Liver segments), Prof. G. Levi from Italy and Prof. Boileau Grant (Author of Grant’s Method of Anatomy & Grant’s Atlas of Anatomy) from Canada. During the first Executive Committee meeting held on 5-6-1951 under the presidentship of Principal A.A. Ayer it was resolved to have a Journal of Anatomical Society of India with two issues per year. Dr. H.K. Chatterjee was appointed as the first Editor of the Journal with Principal A.A. Ayer, Prof. S.K. Basu and Prof. L. Chacko as Editorial Board members and an Advisory Board with 17 prominent anatomists. [Figure 1] The first issue of volume 1 of the Journal was published in June, 1952. In the first Editorial Dr. Hiren K. Chatterjee wrote “The dream has come to be realized. The growing embryo which had been lurking for years in the minds of Indian anatomists has just seen the light. The Anatomical Society of India is no longer something in the air but an institution established at last”. The inaugural issue had five research articles.[1]Figure 1: Group photo taken on the occasion of inauguration of Anatomical Society of IndiaFrom this humble beginning, the Journal has seen 15 editors and beginning as biannual journal in 1951, it has started publishing Supplementary issues from 2013 and became a quarterly journal from the year 2019. Slowly but steadily Journal of Anatomical Society of India is surging ahead in its goal of spreading knowledge, thanks to the support extended by the authors, reviewers and readers.