Gobind Behari Lal | |
|---|---|
 Lal in 1937 | |
| Born | (1889-10-09)9 October 1889 |
| Died | 1 April 1982(1982-04-01) (aged 92) |
| Other names | Gobind Bihari Lal |
| Citizenship | Indian |
| Education | B.Sc. M.A. |
| Alma mater | Punjab University University of California, Berkeley |
| Occupation | Journalist |
| Employer | Hearst Newspapers |
| Organization | Ghadar Party |
| Title | President of theNational Association of Science Writers |
| Term | 1940–41 |
| Predecessor | William L. Laurence |
| Successor | John Joseph O'Neill |
| Movement | Indian independence movement |
| Relatives | Har Dayal |
| Awards | Pulitzer Prize (1937) Padma Bhushan (1969) |
Gobind Behari Lal was anIndian-American journalist and independence activist. A relative and close associate ofLala Har Dayal, he joined theGhadar Party and participated in theIndian independence movement. He arrived the United States on a scholarship to study at theUniversity of California, Berkeley. Later, he worked as a science editor for theHearst Newspapers. In 1937, he became the first Indian and Asian to win thePulitzer Prize.[1]
Gobind Behari Lal was born toBishan Lal, the Governor of theBikaner princely state. His mother's name was Jagge Devi.[2] He obtainedB.Sc. andM.A. degrees from thePunjab University atLahore. He served as an assistant professor at the University from 1909 to 1912.
Lal was the cousin of the Indian nationalistLala Har Dayal's wife, and participated in theIndian independence movement.[3][4] Har Dayal set up the Guru Govind Singh Sahib Educational Scholarship to encourage Indian students to gain scientific education. Lal began attending theUniversity of California, Berkeley in 1912 on this scholarship.[5] He completed hispostgraduate education there.
Lal served as the Science Editor forThe San Francisco Examiner from 1925 to 1930. He was the first journalist to use the term "Science Writer" in hisbyline.[2] He went on to work for otherHearst Newspapers concerns inSan Francisco,New York andLos Angeles.[6] Lal wrote on a variety of topics, and interviewed many notable figures, includingAlbert Einstein,Mohandas K. Gandhi,H. L. Mencken,Edna St. Vincent Millay,Enrico Fermi andMax Planck.[2]
Lal shared the1937 Pulitzer Prize for Reporting withJohn J. O'Neill,William L. Laurence,Howard W. Blakeslee andDavid Dietz. The group won the award for their coverage of science at the tercentenary ofHarvard University.[7]
Lal was one of the founding members of theNational Association of Science Writers, and served as the Association's President in 1940.[2]
Lal died ofcancer in 1982 at the age of 92, a few weeks after writing his last article.[6]
TheGobind Behari Lal Scholarship in Science Journalism awarded by the Center for South Asia Studies of UC Berkeley was named after him.[9]
Govind Behari Lal, Har Dayal's wife's cousin and an important Gadar worker...
Lal worked for Indian independence...
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