Vikram Sarabhai was born on 12 August 1919 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat state in western India, and he passed away on 30 December 1971, at 52 years of age.
Vikram Sarabhai is a name that Indians will always have immense respect for.
In today’s age, we enjoy cricket matches from the comfort of our homes, get regular weather updates, get information on upcoming cyclones, enjoy ISRO’s achievements, or sit comfortably because our borders are protected.
All of this is possible via satellites, and this is where Vikram Sarabhai’s contribution to India can never be forgotten.
In today’s post, we will go through the biography of India’s pioneer, Vikram Sarabhai and discuss details about his education, career, achievements, inventions, family, death, etc.
Vikram Sarabhai Biography
| Name | Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai |
| Also known as | Father of Indian Space program |
| Born on | 12 August 1919 |
| Birth place | Ahmedabad, India |
| Parents | Father – Ambalal Sarabhai, Mother – Saraladevi Sarabhai |
| School | Montessori education at home |
| College | Gujarat College, University of Cambridge, England |
| Wife | Mrinalini Vikram Sarabhai |
| Kids | Son – Kartikeya Sarabhai Daughter – Mallika Sarabhai |
| Career | Multiple positions held (ISRO, Physical Research Laboratory) |
| Mentor | C. V. Raman |
| Inventions | India’s first satellite Aryabhata, Development of nuclear power, etc. |
| Organizations founded | ISRO, IIM Ahmedabad, PRL, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, etc. |
| Awards | Padma Bhusan, Padma Vibhushan, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award |
| Achievements | Creation of IIM, ISRO, etc. |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Death cause | Heart attack |
| Death place | Halcyon Castle Trivandrum, Kerala |
| Zodiac | Leo |
| Movie/Series based on him | Rocket Boys |
Vikram Sarabhai Age, Birth, Parents and Childhood
Vikram Sarabhai was born on 12 August 1919 at the conclusion of the 1st world war. Vikram was born into an affluent family in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
This was a time when India was in the grip of British rule, and most of the families in India did not have access to basic amenities, let alone proper educational infrastructure.
However, Vikram’s family was influential across India, as his father, Mr. Ambalal Sarabhai, was one of the richest businessmen in Ahmedabad, and his mother was Mrs. Saraladevi Sarabhai.
Mr. Ambalal Sarabhai owned many mills in Gujarat and was also an active part of India’s independence movement.
Vikram was one of the eight children of his parents, and also the youngest. A lot of credit for Vikram’s success goes to his parents, who could identify the talent in Vikram’s early years.
Vikram’s schooling was very different from the rest of the Indian kids, as his father introduced a different and unique style of education for him, also known as Montessori education.
This style of education focuses mainly on children’s natural interests and activities rather than formal teaching methods.
When Vikram was only 6 years old, he used to assemble parts of railway engines, bogies, signals, and stations.
To take his passion to the next level, Vikram’s parents help him set up a mechanical workshop, along with the instructors and 2 engineers.
At a very early age, Vikram with the help of two engineers made a miniature steam engine with tracks. Today, this piece of art is preserved at the Community Science Centre in Ahmedabad.
In a way, Vikram Sarabhai was also influenced by a lot of famous personalities of that time, such as Gurudev Rabindranath, Motilal Nehru, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sarojini Naidu, Maulana Azad, etc.
Due to his parents’ involvement in India’s independence movement, a lot of these people used to visit Vikram’s house in Ahmedabad.
As a matter of fact, Mahatma Gandhi also once stayed at their house while recovering from an illness.
Vikram Sarabhai Education
Vikram Sarabhai at the end of his Montessori education at home took up the matriculation, Class 10th examination as an external candidate from RC High School, Ahmedabad.
Although his favourite subject was Science, he practiced and mastered other subjects as well, such as mathematics and arts.
To complete Class 12, Vikram took the examination at Gujarat College under Bombay University. He was also the top scorer amongst his peers in Physics as well as Chemistry.
Impressed by Vikram’s academic proficiency, the famous Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore even wrote a letter of recommendation to Cambridge University, stating:
“ Vikram is a young man with a keen interest in Science. He comes from a wealthy cultured family, he is a fit and proper person for admission to the university “
As a result, Vikram got accepted and moved to England to pursue Tripos in Natural Sciences, for which he was awarded a degree in 1940.
However, that was also the time when World War 2 was in full action, and a lot of Jewish scientists in Europe were moving to the US because of the execution of Jews all over Europe.
Due to all this, Vikram’s father, Ambalal got worried and insisted Vikram to come to India immediately.
Since Vikram was a bright student, he was allowed by Cambridge University to continue his PhD under the guidance of Sir C.V. Raman, a Nobel laureate, at Indian Institute of Science (IISC), Bangalore.
Soon after this, Vikram started his research studies on cosmic rays from space in 1940 and in 1943, he went to Kashmir to measure cosmic rays at high altitude.
During this time, he got married to Mrinalini Swaminathan, a famous Bharatanatyam dancer in August 1942.
As soon as the second world war ended in 1945, Vikram along with his wife Mrinalini went back to England to complete his PhD studies.
He was finally given a PhD degree in 1947 by Patrick Blackett, a Nobel laureate in Nuclear Physics and cosmic radiation.
Vikram Sarabhai Family (Wife and Children)
While Vikram was doing his research at IISC, he became interested in art, music and dance. It was during this time he met famous Bharatanatyam dancer Mrinalini Swaminathan.
Mrinalini was born on 11 May 1918 in Chennai, and she was older than Vikram by a small margin.
Mrinalini was not just a dancer, but she was also a social activist, who used her art to address current social issues.
Eventually, Vikram and Mrinalini got married in August, 1942.
By that time, the ‘Quit India’ movement had already started and Vikram’s sister Mridula was arrested, due to which his family could not attend the wedding, except for his driver, Lala.
On 27 November 1947, the couple had their first child, Kartikeya Sarabhai and on 9 May 1953, Mrinalini gave birth to a daughter, Mallika Sarabhai.
Both their children were able to take the legacy of their parents to the next level as Mallika became an actress and an activist.
Kartikeya is one of the world’s leading environmental educators, and he was awarded the Padma Shri, India’s fourth-highest civilian award, in 2012.
Vikram Sarabhai Career and Achievements
Vikram Sarabhai’s career is an undisputed example of determination and perseverance. In the 21st century, life of people cannot progress without the use of information and information is available via satellites.
There are 195 countries in the world, and not every country has a footprint in space. The credit for India’s success in space research goes to Vikram Sarabhai.
Homi Jehangir Bhabha, who is also known as the Father of India’s nuclear power program graduated from Cambridge University 10 years before Sarabhai.
When Vikram was studying at IISc, Homi Bhabha was working as a reader there.
This was merely a coincidence, since these two formed a strong partnership to take India to the next level in the field of science, nuclear power and technology.
When Vikram came back to India after getting his PhD degree, he formed Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) in Ahmedabad on November 11, 1947 with the help of his friends and family members.
During the same year (1947), Vikram also formed Ahmedabad Textile Industry’s Research Association (ATIRA).
Even though Vikram had no formal idea about how textile industries work, it was the need of the hour in young India at that time.
In 1949, Vikram along with his wife Mrinalini established an art institution called “Darpana Academy of Performing Arts” in Ahmedabad. This was an ideal platform for young Indians to get trained in various arts like music, dance, drama etc.
Interestingly, Vikram Sarabhai was involved in the renaissance of the pharmaceutical industry in India. He believed from the start, that this industry should have the highest quality standards.
To achieve this, he collaborated with European and American countries and started the manufacturing of medicines like vitamins, penicillin, etc. in 1956, which are essential for the masses in any country.
Due to this reason, India has now become self-reliant in the pharmaceutical industry.
There was a time when Vikram Sarabhai was leading multiple industries and was working almost 20 hours a day along with a lot of travelling.
During the years 1955-1962, Vikram also used to travel to the US to teach students at MIT, Boston.
This gave him an opportunity to collaborate with the Government of India, esteemed businessman Kasturbhai Lalbhai of Ahmedabad, The Harvard Business School to establish Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad in 1961.
Vikram Sarabhai Contribution to ISRO and Space
The idea for India’s space adventure seeded when the USSR launched a satellite into space for the first time in the world on 4th Oct 1957.
This gave Vikram Sarabhai an opportunity to speak to the PM of India Jawaharlal Nehru and convince the government of India to have their own space program.
According to Vikram Sarabhai, “if India is to play a meaningful role nationally, and in the community of nations, we must be second to none in the application of advanced technologies to the real problems of man and society.”
In this initiative, Vikram was well supported by Homi Bhabha.
As a result, INCOSPAR (Indian National Committee on Space Research) was launched under DAE (Department of Atomic Energy) in 1962.
The aim of this organization was to set up India’s first rocket launching station at Thumba in Kerala.
To facilitate this project, many young engineers were sent for training at NASA. One of those young scientists was APJ Abdul Kalam.
After six months of hard work and dedication, the first sounding rocket of India was launched on 21 November 1963 from “Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS)”.
It is even reported that Vikram Sarabhai worked for a token salary of one rupee in view of his personal wealth.
On 1 January 1965, Sarabhai set up the Space Science and Technology Center (SSTC), which was later renamed as Vikram Sarabhai Space Center – VSSC.
However, on 24 Jan 1966, Homi Jehangir Bhabha died in a plane crash, which meant Vikram Sarabhai had to take overall responsibility of Indian nuclear energy research as the Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission and Secretary of the Department of Atomic Energy.
In the year 1969, INCOSPAR became the Indian Space Research Organisation. This was the time when Vikram Sarabhai started a project to launch an Indian satellite to provide Television for five lakh villages of India (Aryabhata).
In the coming years, Dr Sarabhai was in constant touch with NASA and the European space agency to exchange information, so India could send their own satellite.
Unfortunately, Vikram Sarabhai passed away on 30 December 1971 due to a cardiac arrest.
However, his efforts did not go to vain, as India was eventually able to put their own satellite Aryabhata into orbit on 19 April 1975 with the help of a Russian Cosmodrome.
Vikram Sarabhai Organizations Founded
Vikram Sarabhai Awards
As an Indian, one of the highest awards one could receive is a Padma Bhushan. Vikram Sarabhai was given a Padma Bhushan in 1966 due to his contributions to the country.
After his death, Vikram Sarabhai was also awarded with Padma Vibhushan (posthumously) in 1972, which is the second-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna.
In addition to this, Vikram received several awards such as:
- President of the Physics section, Indian Science Congress (1962),
- Vice-President, Fourth U.N. Conference on ‘Peaceful uses of Atomic Energy’ (1971),
- President of the General Conference of the I.A.E.A., Vienna (1970),
- Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, (VSSC) named after him
- A crater on the moon ‘BESSEL A’ has been named the Sarabhai crater by the International Astronomical Union in 1973,
- Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award (1962)
- Chandrayaan-3 lander was named “Vikram” after Vikram Sarabhai
Vikram Sarabhai Death Cause and Place
Vikram Sarabhai passed away in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala on 30 Dec 1971, when he was only 52 years of age.
There are a lot of theories about how he died, the one that was reported was massive cardiac arrest.
Padmanabh Joshi, who was a close associate of the Sarabhai family, once revealed that the entire train compartment used to be empty, if Vikram was travelling by train.
In one of his quotes, Vikram also stated “he was being watched by Americans as well as Russians”.
In fact, the famous ISRO scientist Nambi Narayan quoted in his book “Ormakalude Bhramanapadham” that high ranked international personalities were involved in Vikram Sarabhai’s death.
The fact is Vikram Sarabhai’s contribution has changed and shaped the daily life of every Indian, whether we may see it or not.
He has pushed India to a stage, where India has become a global dominant power in the field of science, space and research.