Chapter 7 : Govind Sadashiv Ghurye: Biography and Contribution to Indian Sociology

Background and Academic Career

Govind Sadashiv Ghurye (1893-1984) is universally recognized as a foundational figure in Indian sociology. He is widely acclaimed as the "father of Indian sociology", "the doyen of Indian sociologists", and "the symbol of sociological creativeness". He almost single-handedly built the entire first generation of post-independence Indian sociologists.

Early Life and Education:

• Birth & Death: Born on 12th December, 1893 in a Saraswat Brahmin family in Malavan, Maharashtra (West Coast of India). Died on 28th December, 1983 in Bombay at the age of 91.
• Undergraduate: Admitted to Elphinstone College, Bombay with Honours. Stood first class second at the BA examination and won the Bahu Dazi prize (the highest mark of Sanskrit competence in the university).
• Postgraduate: Stood first class first at the MA examination in English and Sanskrit in 1918, winning the Chancellor's Gold Medal. He was the first person to ever obtain a first class at the MA level with Sanskrit.
• Transition to Sociology: While teaching at Elphinstone College, he submitted an essay titled "Bombay as an Urban Centre" to Patrick Geddes, winning a foreign scholarship instituted by the University of Bombay.
• Foreign Training:
• Studied at the London School of Economics (LSE) briefly under L.T. Hobhouse.
• Moved to Cambridge to work with W.H.R. Rivers (who died in 1922 before Ghurye finished his doctorate).
• Completed his PhD in 1923 under A.C. Hadden on Caste and Race in India.

Institutional Leadership and Career:

• Bombay University: Patrick Geddes started the Department of Sociology in 1919. Ghurye succeeded Geddes as head and Reader, taking charge in 1924.
• Appointed Professor in 1934 and retired in 1959. Upon retirement, he became the first Emeritus Professor in Bombay University.
• Research Guidance: Supervised 80 theses over a 50-year span (his last student submitted a thesis in 1971). Of these, 40 were published as books.
• Institution Building:
• Prime mover in forming the Indian Sociological Society in 1952.
• Instrumental in launching its official bi-annual journal, Sociological Bulletin . (Note: The first sociological journal in India was actually The Indian…