By Faisal Fareed, TwoCircles.net,
Lucknow: For Prof Mahdi Hasan the announcement of Padma Shri award on Wednesday came as a big surprise. Feeling elated this was his first reaction: “I feel honoured because one of my bright students has got this award much before me.”
Prof Mahdi Hasan is the first Indian doctor who has got the Padma Shri award in Anatomy. He is also the first faculty member of JN Medical College, Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) to bag the honour.
Prof. Mahdi Hasan
Prof Hasan did his MBBS, MS from CSM Medical University (then known as King George Medical College). He completed his formal education from Christian College. He served at JN Medical College, AMU as Chairman, Anatomy Department. Presently he is Honorary Professor, Department of Anatomy, CSM Medical University. He is also the recipient of Dr BC Roy National Award.
Prof Hasan has many first to his credit. He is regarded as the father of anatomy in India. Over 12000 of his students are eminent doctors. Padma Bhushan Dr Naresh Trehan and Padma Shri Dr Ashok Seth (Escorts Heart Institute) are two of his illustrious students. He was the first in the country to complete MBBS, MS with honours.
Born on March 21, 1936 at village Gadayan in Ambedkar Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh, Prof Hasan lost his father at the tender age of four years. He was brought up by his elder brother, a police officer who later sacrificed his life on duty at Unnao in 1964 and was posthumously awarded police medal for gallantry. Prof Hasan also has the distinction when a Malayalam short story on his life time won the gyanpeeth puraskar.