K. T. Achaya
Kollegal Thammu Achaya | |
|---|---|
| Born | 6 October 1923 |
| Died | 5 September 2002 (aged 78) |
| Occupations |
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K. T. Achaya (6 October 1923 – 5 September 2002) was an oil chemist, food scientist, nutritionist, and food historian.[1]
He is the author of Indian Food: A Historical Companion, The Food Industries of British India, and A Historical Dictionary of Indian Food.[2][3]
Early life and education
[edit]Kollegal Thammu Achaya was born 6 October 1923,[3] in a Kodava family, in the Kollegal town of the Mysore kingdom (now part of Karnataka).[4] He graduated in chemistry from the University of Madras in 1943.[3]
Achaya worked at the Indian Institute of Science for the next three years, doing research on oils, fats and foods system. In 1948, he co-authored the book Indian Dairy Products with K. S. Rangappa; a revised edition of the book was reprinted later in 1974. Achaya obtained a doctorate from the University of Liverpool in the UK, working at T. P. Hilditch's lab.[3]
Career
[edit]After receiving his Ph.D., Achaya established the School of Fat Chemistry and Technology in Hyderabad, which later evolved into the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology.[4] He researched on cottonseed processing and castor oil derivatives in Regional Research Laboratory in Hyderabad for 22 years starting from 1950. During this time, he published 150 publications and acquired 11 patents. In 1971, he became the executive director of Protein Foods and Nutrition Development Association of India in Mumbai. In 1977, Achaya moved to the Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI), Mysore, as a consultant to the United Nations University (UNU) Programme for advanced training in Food Science and Technology for fellows from developing countries. He retired from CFTRI in 1983 and wrote several books after his retirement.[3]
Books
[edit]K. T. Achaya published several books on oil milling and food history of India.[3][5]
- Oilseeds and Oil Milling in India: A Cultural and Historical Survey (1990)
- GHANI: The Traditional Oil Mill of India (1993)
- The Food Industries of British India (1994)
- The Story of our Food (2000)
- The Food Industries of British India (Oxford University Press, 1994)
- Indian Food: A Historical Companion (Oxford University Press, 1994)
- A Historical Dictionary of Indian Food (Oxford University Press, 1998)
- The Illustrated Foods of India, A-Z (Oxford University Press, 2009)
References
[edit]- ^ Sen, Mayukh (1 June 2018). "KT Achaya's pioneering scholarship on Indian food". The Caravan. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
- ^ "Changes in the Indian menu over the ages". The Hindu. 4 November 2004. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f Mahtab S. Bamji (2002). "Life's history ends for a food scientist-historian: An obituary of K. T. Achaya". Current Science. 83 (8). JSTOR 24106937.
- ^ a b Colleen Taylor Sen (2023). "Achaya, K.T.". In Colleen Taylor Sen; Sourish Bhattacharyya; Helen Saberi (eds.). The Bloomsbury Handbook of Indian Cuisine. Bloomsbury. p. 7. ISBN 9781350128651.
- ^ "Worldcat search". WorldCat. OCLC. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
- 1923 births
- 2002 deaths
- Indian food writers
- Indian food scientists
- Food historians
- People from Chamarajanagar district
- Writers from Karnataka
- Scientists from Karnataka
- 20th-century Indian chemists
- Kodava people
- 20th-century Indian non-fiction writers
- 20th-century Indian male writers
- Indian male non-fiction writers