Jyotish Chandra Ray was born on 20 April 1899 in Narottampur, in the Bakarganj district of undivided Bengal (now in Bangladesh). The son of Bardakanta Ray, he showed early promise in science and went on to pursue advanced studies in Europe.

In Berlin, under the guidance of Professor Martin Hahn, he conducted pioneering research on an oral cholera vaccine. In 1926 he was awarded a first-class doctorate by the University of Berlin for this work — an achievement that marked him as one of the early Indian scientists to gain recognition in European laboratories for medical biochemistry.

Returning to India, he briefly served with the Protozoological Survey of the Central Research Institute. In 1934 he founded his own Medical Research Institute in Calcutta, determined to create an independent centre for biochemical and experimental medical research. In 1954 the institution was renamed the Indian Institute for Biochemistry and Experimental Medicine. Ray directed it until 1964, building laboratories, guiding young researchers, and establishing the annual journal Annals of Biochemistry and Experimental Medicine.

His work focused on the biochemical understanding of disease processes and the development of practical medical tools suited to Indian conditions. Colleagues remembered a quiet, determined scientist who believed research must serve the people.

One younger colleague later recalled him saying, while examining culture plates late in the evening:

“Knowledge that stays in the laboratory is incomplete. It must walk into the ward and the village.”

In 1968 the Government of India awarded him the Padma Bhushan for his contributions to medicine. He died on 24 November 1975.

In the story of Indian doctors and medical scientists, Jyotish Chandra Ray stands as a builder of institutions — the biochemist who created a lasting centre for experimental medicine and helped plant modern biochemical research firmly on Indian soil.