Eminent historian Prof Rajat Kanta Ray, the former head of the Department of History at Kolkata’s Presidency University (earlier College), passed away in Kolkata on Wednesday at the age of 79.

Ray was one of the longest-serving faculty members at Presidency College (it became a university in 2010), teaching there from 1975 to 2006 when he was appointed the Vice-Chancellor of Visva-Bharati. He remained in the post till 2011.

A scholar of exceptional academic output, Ray was a historian of modern Indian history, with a focus on colonial Bengal, and also wrote a book on Rabindranath Tagore. Among the books he authored are India: Growth and Conflict in the Private Corporate Sector, 1914-47 (1979), Mind, Body and Society: Life and Mentality in Colonial Bengal (1996), Exploring Emotional History: Gender, Mentality, and Literature in the Indian Awakening (2001), The Felt Community: Commonality and Mentality Before the Emergence of Indian Nationalism (2003), and Behind the Veil: Paintings of Rabindranath Tagore Reminiscent of Jivanadevata (2010). He was so popular a teacher that Gopalkrishna Gandhi, who was the Governor at the time, once went to Presidency to attend his class.

Ray was born in 1946 to Kumud Kanta Ray who became the Home Secretary of West Bengal in the 1960s. After completing his schooling at Ballygunge Government High School, he enrolled in BA (Honours) in History at Presidency College, where he was taught by Ashin Dasgupta, a leading historian of modern India. Ray completed his PhD from the University of Cambridge. He taught at IIM Kolkata for a time before moving on to Presidency.

Expressing condolences, State Education Minister Bratya Basu wrote on X, “I am deeply saddened by the passing of respected and beloved professor and historian Rajat Kanta Ray. He taught at Presidency College for more than three decades and nurtured many internationally renowned students. His contribution to the socio-economic history of Bengal plays an important role in understanding our past.”