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| Photo: R.G. Kar Medical College |
Radha Gobinda Kar (1852 – 1918) was a physician and philanthropist.
In 1869, RG Kar enrolled at Bengal Medical College, Asia’s oldest medical school, established in 1835. However, he soon took a break, exploring theatre, gymnastics, and getting married. After more than a decade, he resumed his medical studies in Scotland in 1883 and earned the LRCP&S degree in 1886.
Instead of practicing in England or Scotland, which would have been way more lucrative, RG Kar chose to return to India. Driven by the spirit of nationalism, Dr. Radha Gobinda Kar convened a meeting in 1886 to establish a medical school independent of British rule, leading to the creation of Calcutta Medical School - Asia’s first non-governmental medical college.
This institution later merged with another nationalist organization to form Belgachia Medical College in 1916. The college was renamed in his honor in 1948.
During a plague outbreak, he worked with Sister Nivedita (an Irish teacher, social activist, and disciple of Swami Vivekananda) and others to take care of the afflicted.
The Calcutta School of Medicine was managed by a trust called the Medical Education Society of Bengal and RG Kar remained its secretary till his death from the Spanish Flu in 1918.
In his will, he bequeathed his Shyambazar residence to the institution.