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Economist Nirmala Banerjee, mother of Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee, passes away
Born Nirmala Patankar in Maharashtra, the economist studied at the London School of Economics and worked as a professor at the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences in Kolkata
Professor Nirmala Banerjee, a renowned economist and mother of Nobel laureate Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee, passed away at a Kolkata hospital on Friday morning. She was 87.
She suffered a severe head injury on Tuesday night after falling in the bathroom at her south Kolkata residence. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee went to the hospital on Thursday to inquire about her health and said that her son, who lives in the US, was on his way to Kolkata.
“Deeply saddened by the demise of Prof. Nirmala Banerjee, renowned economist, and mother of Nobel laureate Prof. Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee. She breathed her last today in Kolkata. I visited her at the hospital yesterday,” the chief minister wrote in a post on her X handle on Friday.
“I came to know Nirmaladi well and have many sweet memories now. Her demise is a great loss in our public life. My deep condolences to Abhijit, Aniruddha, other family members including Esther Duflo (Abhijit’s wife), as well as Nirmaladi’s friends and students,” the chief minister wrote in her condolence message.
Born Nirmala Patankar in Maharashtra, the economist studied at the London School of Economics and worked as a professor at the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences in Kolkata.
Her husband, economist Dipak Banerjee, too studied at the London School of Economics, and was a professor at Presidency College in Kolkata. He died in 2007.
Nirmala Banerjee authored several books based on her years of research. These include Gender Impacts of Revenue Collection in India and Women Workers in the Unorganized Sector: Calcutta Experience.
