Life & Letters Of Dr. Yellapragada SubbaRow

Dr.Yellapragada SubbaRow was a pioneering Indian Biochemist, whose work in a short life span of 53 years bequeathed to humanity, many potent drugs which have saved millions of lives, extended life expectancy and improved the quality of life.

Dr. SubbaRow discovered four drug molecules, which opened new approaches to the treatment of nutritional and infectious diseases, and also cancer. The uniqueness of these molecules is that even today, decades after their discovery, they are still very much in use, and are also being studied for potential new benefits to mankind. While his remarkable achievements are known to biochemists and medical professionals, he remains little known to common people. Subba Row lived 28 years in India and 25 in the United States of America. Innumerable articles and books on his life and works were written by people in India and abroad after his death. The information provided on his life events in some books and articles are half truths and contain factual errors.

Mr. S P K Gupta, a journalist working with Press Trust of India, published the first & most comprehensive biography of Dr Yellapragada SubbaRow titled ‘IN QUEST OF PANACEA’ in 1987. Gupta collected detailed information on SubbaRow’s life in India by interviewing his mother, wife, relations and friends. Lederle Laboratories, where Dr SubbaRow worked financed his visit to USA in 1965. Gupta collected entire material on SubbaRow’s life and works in USA from the Archives of Harvard and Lederle and personal interviews. This can be considered as an authentic and comprehensive biography. Yellapragada SubbaRow left the shores of India on September 29, 1923 to pursue higher studies and research in medicine at Harvard. He used to write very detailed letters on his life and work at Harvard to his family members and friends. They were mostly in English except the ones to his beloved wife Seshagiri, which he penned in Telugu.

During his early days at Harvard, he wrote very detailed letters on the life there, his living conditions, his research activities etc. Only a few of the letters written to the family were available and some were discoloured, faded and torn. These letters were given to Mr. S P K Gupta by Kasturi Ramachandra Rao (R. R. Kasturi) - brother of Seshagiri in 1965. Mr. Gupta retrieved and reconstructed the shaded and missing portions to the maximum extent possible and got them typed. He made use of information in the letters for his book IN QUEST OF PANACEA. He made these letters available on the website www.ysubbarow.info.in. After the sudden demise of SPK Gupta in January, 2023 the website was shut.

This Book Life & Letters of Dr. Yellapragada Subba Row is an attempt to reach the common man through a simpler and shorter version. It depicts the extraordinary life in brief and presents some important and interesting letters written by him to his family members, relatives and friends. These letters reveal his love and affection to his wife and family, his philosophy and views on education, religion, and social customs. They also throw light on his zeal and determination to pursue research ignoring social and family obligations.

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E-bog: 30. august 2025