REMEMBERING PANDIT HEMRAJ, FORMER PRINCIPAL GOVERNMENT DYAL SINGH COLLEGE, LAHORE:
Sarbjit Bahga
Pandit Hemraj (1886–1938) was a world-renowned mathematician and former Principal of the prestigious Government Dyal Singh College, Lahore from 1923 to 1938. He was born in village Daffar, (also my maternal village), District Hoshiarpur, Punjab towards the end of the year 1886. His father Pandit Ganga Ram was a poor Brahmin. It was under hard circumstances, therefore, that Pandit Hemraj received his education. He passed his middle school examination from S.D. School, Hoshiarpur in 1903, and his matriculation from the Government High School, Hoshiarpur, in 1905. He passed his Bachelors of Arts (B.A.), and Masters of Arts (M.A.) examinations from the DAV College, Lahore, with distinction, standing first in the first class, in the M.A. examination in 1912.
Shortly after passing his M.A., Pandit ji was appointed in October 1912, an Assistant Professor of Mathematics in the Dyal Singh College, Lahore. Pandit ji’s work thus came to the notice of the Punjab Government and Sir John Maynard, the then Vice-Chancellor of the Panjab University, moved the University to offer him a scholarship to go abroad for higher studies. The offer was not accepted by Pandit Hemraj for reasons of health. By hard work and intelligence, Pandit ji rose to the Principalship of the Government Dyal Singh College, Lahore in 1923, and served it ably till the time of his (untimely) death on the night of 12th November 1938. His death had left a void in the academic life of the Punjab University, Lahore.
A disciple of Pandit Hemraj, Prof Hansraj Gupta (1902–1988) who was also a great mathematician, joined the Dyal Singh College Lahore in 1924 for his M.A. in Mathematics. The Principal of the college was Pandit Hem Raj who had a high reputation both as a mathematician and as a teacher. Principal Hemraj had also published many papers on Number Theory. Probably, those were the basic reasons for Hansraj to choose Dyal Singh College, Lahore. Pandit Hemraj was a well-known mathematician of those days. He had been associated with the Indian Mathematical Society (IMS) and was a member of the Executive Committee of the Society.
Dr Hansraj Gupta had been inspired to research Number Theory by Pandit Hemraj. In a Preface to the book titled, “Symmetric Functions in the Theory of Integral Numbers,” Dr Hansraj Gupta stated, “My revered teacher, the Late Pandit Hemraj, who passed away on the 12th of November 1938, instilled a lot of enthusiasm for the subject among his pupils and himself made valuable contributions to the subject. The little that I have done by way of research is in no small measure due to the encouragement I got from Pandit Hemraj.”
